Sector Update: Stocks Rebound Friday with Rising Commodity Prices
Energy stocks added to their Friday advance this afternoon, with the NYSE Energy Sector Index up 1.7% in late trade and the SPDR Energy Select Sector ETF (XLE) climbing 1.5%. The Philadelphia Oil-Service Sector index was posting a 1.3% advance and the Dow Jones US Utilities Index was gaining 0.2%, reversing a narrow midday decline.
West Texas Intermediate crude oil settled $1.81 higher at $97.59 per barrel while North Sea Brent crude was advancing $2.14 to $101.24 per barrel. Henry Hub natural gas futures rose $0.42 to $7.02 per 1 million BTU.
In company news, Crestwood Equity Partners LP (CEQP) was 3% higher late in Friday trading after the energy midstream company overnight declared a quarterly cash distribution of $0.655 per limited partner unit, unchanged from the previous quarter.
Borr Drilling (BORR) climbed more than 11% after the offshore drilling contractor Friday announced a binding award from Mubadala Petroleum in Thailand for its Mist jack-up rig valued at around $25.2 million beginning next January.
Methanex (MEOH) added 6.1% after the Canadian methanol producer raised its quarterly dividend for the third time over the past year, Friday announcing a 20% increase to $0.175 per share.
Peabody Energy (BTU) rose 1%, reversing a midday slide that followed the coal miner late Thursday saying it likely generated between $1.31 billion to $1.34 billion in revenue during the three months ended June 30, lagging the Capital IQ consensus looking for $1.41 billion.
