Oil and gas shares managed slim gains Wednesday but not enough to recover from the previous session's precipitous losses, pushing two of the three energy indexes into negative territory for the month.
The Amex Oil Index (XOI :1,143.42, +0.54, +0.0% ) was essentially flat at 1,143.42 points with the previous session's 3.5% decline wiping out a month's worth of gains. The index closed 3% lower than where it stood at the start of the month. See Futures Movers.
The Amex Natural Gas Index (XNG :455.42, +1.26, +0.3% ) rose 0.3% to 455.42 points but fell 1.2% over the whole month. The Philadelphia Oil Service Index ($OSX : 0.00, 0.00, 0.0% ) added 0.2% to 197 points, posting a 0.6% rise over the last month.
Behind Tuesday's sharp sell-off in stocks was a raft of bearish news, triggered by a 9% drop in stock prices in Shanghai. In the oil market, China has been a key driver, averaging at least 5% annual demand growth to fuel its red-hot economy.
"Don't kid yourself, Asia matters," said Dan Pickering of Pickering Energy Partners in a note to clients. "Much of current energy/basic-materials bull market built on the back of the China-India growth thesis. If that thesis developing cracks, the energy story's done for the next few years."
Within the oil index, the sector's biggest names early on led the recovery effort after suffering the sharpest blows in the previous session but ran out of steam by the end of the session.
Shares of Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM :71.68, -0.15, -0.2% ) , part of the Dow Jones Industrial Average, gained more than 2% in early trade as investors flocked back to the stock but the shares closed 0.2% lower at $71.68.
Unusual for the oil giant, the shares fell nearly 5% to lead the oil index's decline Tuesday. Exxon Mobil has been seen as particularly sensitive to a potential slowdown in China after announcing a joint venture with China's Sinopec and Saudi Aramco to triple the capacity of a refinery in southern Fujian province. Exxon Mobil's said it foresees oil demand rising 60% by 2030, most of which will be centered on growth in India and China. See full story.
Among the other oil majors, Chevron Corp. (CVX : 68.52, -0.06, -0.1% ) slipped 0.1% to $68.52, giving up intra-day gains of nearly 2% and ConocoPhillips (COP : 65.32, +0.27, +0.4% ) rose 0.4% to $65.32.
Marathon Oil Corp. (MRO :90.72, +0.94, +1.0% ) was the sole component to enjoy a solid gain, rising 1.1% to $90.72 and adding just enough heft to tip the entire index into the black.
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