Energy equities were mixed in early trading Thursday as traders locked in some of the previous session's gains and reacted to ratings changes on the industry from Goldman Sachs.
After a lower start, the Amex Oil Index ($XOI : 1,149.65, +0.03, +0.0% ) managed to trim losses to a mere 0.2% while the Amex Natural Gas Index ($XNG : 453.84, +0.94, +0.2% ) was up 0.2%. The Philadelphia Oil Service Index ($OSX :203.77, +0.25, +0.1% ) was bouncing in a narrow range essentially unchanged from Wednesday's close. Energy stocks again seemed to be aligning themselves with the broader market, tracking the Dow Jones Industrial Average (.DJI : DJI12,161.52, +28.12, +0.2% ) and S&P 500 Index (SPX : SPX1,392.70, +5.53, +0.4% ) more closely than oil or gas prices.
Spot crude oil prices were hovering 2 cents above Wednesday's close at $58.17 a barrel as the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Nations gathers in Vienna to review production policy. Industry analysts are predicting the group will leave its output quotas unchanged. See Futures Movers.
Goldman Sachs issued a raft of ratings changes on some of the industry's bigger players, upgrading Marathon Oil Corp. (MRO : 94.81, +1.40, +1.5% ) to buy from sell while giving a neutral rating to Frontier Oil Corp. (FTO :31.54, +0.36, +1.2% ) , up from sell. The broker said the move reflected a more bullish picture shaping up for crude oil prices and for refiners, especially those with extensive operations and marketshare in the Midwest.
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