Energy stocks were higher late Tuesday afternoon, with the NYSE Energy Sector Index up 0.3% and the State Street Energy Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLE) adding 0.2%.
The Philadelphia Oil Service Sector Index was down 0.3%, and the Dow Jones US Utilities Index was fractionally higher.
President Donald Trump withdrew his proposal to charge a 20% toll on cargo transiting the Strait, according to his social media post on Tuesday. "Based on highly productive conversations with Middle East leadership, I have decided to replace the 20% United States Reimbursement Fee with Trade and Investment Deals that the various Gulf States will be making into the United States." There will be a "FULL Blockade, but only on Ships coming to and from Iranian ports, or carrying anything have to do with Iranian cargo," Trump said on Truth Social.
Front-month West Texas Intermediate crude oil rose 2% to $79.70 a barrel, and the global benchmark Brent crude contract gained 2.4% to $85.30 a barrel. Henry Hub natural gas futures increased 0.7% to $2.92 per 1 million BTU.
In corporate news, Thomas Barrack, US special envoy for Syria and Iraq, has held talks with officials from both countries as well as Chevron (CVX) and other companies about reviving a defunct pipeline running from Iraq to the western coast of Syria, Bloomberg reported. Chevron shares were down 0.2%.
Patterson-UTI Energy (PTEN) shares rose 1.6% after Piper Sandler upgraded the stock to overweight from neutral.
Shell (SHEL) will receive a production-linked tax credit from Nigeria for its Bonga Southwest Aparo deepwater project, Bloomberg reported. Shell shares were up 0.4%.
Bloom Energy (BE) short sellers have made key mistakes on the company's access to the rare-earth mineral scandium and ignore its recent filings showing it has resolved its sourcing constraints, RBC said in a note. Bloom Energy shares rose 4.2%.