Energy stocks were lower Tuesday afternoon, with the NYSE Energy Sector Index falling 0.1% and the State Street Energy Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLE) shedding 0.2%.
The Philadelphia Oil Service Sector Index was down 0.3%, and the Dow Jones US Utilities Index decreased 0.2%.
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 1.2% to $79.04 a barrel, and the global benchmark Brent crude contract gained 1.5% to $84.53 a barrel. Henry Hub natural gas futures decreased 0.1% to $2.89 per 1 million BTU.
In corporate news, Shell (SHEL) will receive a production-linked tax credit from Nigeria for its Bonga Southwest Aparo deepwater project, Bloomberg reported. Shell shares were up 0.3%.
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 to investors on Tuesday. Bloom Energy shares rose 2.7%.
American Resources' (AREC) ReElement Technologies unit received a $25 million investment from the US Department of Defense through the Industrial Base Fund to expand domestic rare earth refining capacity at its Marion, Indiana, facility, the company said Tuesday. American Resources shares jumped past 6%.