Sectors
Sector Update: Energy Stocks Fall Late Afternoon
Energy stocks were sharply lower late Friday afternoon, with the NYSE Energy Sector Index dropping 3.7% and the State Street Energy Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLE) falling 2.8%.The Philadelphia Oil Service Sector Index declined 1.1%, and the Dow Jones US Utilities Index decreased 0.5%.In sector news, oil prices plunged Friday as Iran's foreign minister said the Strait of Hormuz is "completely open" following a ceasefire in Lebanon. "In line with the ceasefire in Lebanon, the passage for all commercial vessels through Strait of Hormuz is declared completely open for the remaining period of ceasefire," Iran's Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi said Friday in a post on the X platform.Front-month West Texas Intermediate crude oil slumped 11% to $84.23 a barrel, and the global benchmark Brent crude contract dropped 9.2% to $90.28 a barrel. Henry Hub natural gas futures rose 1.2% to $2.68 per 1 million BTU.In corporate news, Chevron (CVX), Exxon Mobil (XOM) and other major oil companies received backing from the US Supreme Court on Friday as the court ruled that lawsuits filed by Louisiana officials accusing them of harming the state's coastal areas should be transferred out of the state courts and into federal court, according to a court document. Chevron shares were down 2.1%, and Exxon shed 3.6%.An Astana court upheld a 2.356 trillion tenge ($5 billion) environmental fine against North Caspian Operating Co., the operator of Kazakhstan's Kashagan oil field, whose shareholders include Exxon Mobil, Shell (SHEL), TotalEnergies (TTE), and Eni (E), among others, Bloomberg reported. Shell shares dropped 4%, TotalEnergies shed 4.1%, and Eni fell 5.6%.Petrobras (PBR) said Friday it signed an agreement with Oranto Petroleum to buy a 75% working interest and assume operatorship of Block 3, an offshore exploration site in Sao Tome and Principe. Petrobras shares were down 4.9%.Exelon (EXC) shares fell 1.2% after multiple brokerages downgraded the energy provider.
$CVX$E$EXC$PBR$SHEL$TTE$XOM