Profit warnings from Chevron Corp. and Valero Energy weighed on oil stocks Wednesday, but natural gas and oil services shares rose as cooler weather loomed in the Northeast.
The Amex Oil Index (XOI:1,452.28, -6.35, -0.4%) fell 0.8% to 1,447. The Amex Natural Gas Index (XNG: 542.29, +2.08, +0.4%) rose 0.2% to 541. The Philadelphia Oil Service Index ($OSX:300.40, +3.05, +1.0%) advanced 0.9% to 300.
Shares of Chevron (CVX:90.99, -1.81, -1.9%) fell 2%, changing hands at $91.04. The No. 2 oil giant said third-quarter profit will drop substantially from the second quarter on higher costs for crude oil.
Valero (VLO:72.08, -0.11, -0.1%) recovered from a 2% loss earlier in the session, but still traded down 0.3% to $71.99. The company sounded caution on margins as it updated its third-quarter financial forecast.
Tesoro Petroleum (TSO:53.48, +1.48, +2.9%) rose 3.2% to $53.68, gaining after Bernstein upgraded the stock to outperform from market perform. In the energy pits on the New York Mercantile Exchange, crude futures rose 11 cents to $80.37. Natural Gas futures added 15 cents to $7.01.
Key weekly data on U.S. petroleum inventories are data due out Thursday this week, a day later than usual because of the Columbus Day.
