Energy stocks were mixed Thursday afternoon, with the NYSE Energy Sector Index rising 0.4% and the State Street Energy Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLE) easing 0.2%.
The Philadelphia Oil Service Sector Index was climbing up 2.1%, and the Dow Jones US Utilities Index decreased 0.5%.
Late Wednesday, US Central Command forces completed a "heavy wave" of strikes against Iran in response to Tuesday's attempted missile attacks on US forces, according to a CENTCOM statement. "The strikes aimed to further diminish threats posed by Iran and its proxies to American forces, commercial shipping, and neighboring Gulf countries." Meanwhile, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps targeted US bases in Kuwait and Jordan following Washington's strikes on Iran, Al Jazeera, a Middle East broadcaster, reported, citing the IRGC.
Front-month West Texas Intermediate crude oil shed 0.4% to $84.09 a barrel, and the global benchmark Brent crude contract fell 1.3% to $89.58 a barrel. Henry Hub natural gas futures rose 1.5% to $2.76 per 1 million BTU.
In corporate news, Exxon Mobil (XOM), Chevron (CVX) and other big oil companies are vying for Venezuela's choicest drilling spots, but talks with Venezuelan officials have recently hit an impasse, preventing them from making big moves, The Wall Street Journal reported. Exxon and Chevron shares were each shedding about 0.4%.
BP (BP) intends to cut around 700 non-frontline jobs from its global workforce, Reuters reported Thursday, citing an internal email it viewed. BP shares rose 1.2%.
Celanese (CE) said Thursday that the Amsterdam District Court dismissed the damages claim brought by Shell's (SHEL) Shell Chemicals Europe unit. The court also dismissed a claim from Repsol-related entities seeking declaratory judgement of liability of Celanese and its co-defendants, it said. The claims stemmed from a 2020 settlement with the European Commission regarding past ethylene purchases in North-Western Europe, according to the company. Celanese shares were up 1.3%, and Shell was adding 1.6%.