Energy stocks gained Friday afternoon, with the NYSE Energy Sector Index rising 1.1% and the State Street Energy Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLE) increasing 0.6%.
The Philadelphia Oil Service Sector Index was up 0.1%, and the Dow Jones US Utilities Index was shedding 0.5%.
Crude oil prices jumped amid Washington intensifying strikes against Iran. US Central Command said in a post on X that it completed the sixth consecutive wave of attacks against Iran, degrading the nation's military capabilities and holding it "accountable" for recent attacks on commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz. President Donald Trump has threatened to launch broad-based air strikes on Iranian infrastructure and has also declined to rule out a ground assault on Iran's coast or islands, Reuters reported.
Front-month West Texas Intermediate crude oil jumped 4.1% to $82.22 a barrel, and the global benchmark Brent crude contract climbed 4.1% to $87.66 a barrel. Henry Hub natural gas futures rose 1.6% to $2.91 per 1 million BTU.
In corporate news, ConocoPhillips (COP) said Friday it has agreed to acquire a 42% stake in BP's (BP) BP Energy Co. of Kirkuk, which oversees the ongoing redevelopment of four large-scale, currently producing oil fields in northern Iraq's Kirkuk region. ConocoPhillips shares rose 0.8%, and BP climbed 1.2%.