-- Energy stocks were higher Monday afternoon, with the NYSE Energy Sector Index increasing 0.7% and the State Street Energy Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLE) up 0.6%.
The Philadelphia Oil Service Sector Index was decreasing 0.7%, and the Dow Jones US Utilities Index was shedding 0.7%.
In sector news, oil prices rose as as investors weighed military action in the Strait of Hormuz, the chokepoint for about a fifth of global crude oil flows. Military tensions were fanning up in Hormuz on Monday, as several ships were struck amid Iranian threats and the US sent in destroyers and fought off further attacks, The Wall Street Journal reported. The skirmishes followed President Donald Trump's initiative to get ships bottled up in the Persian Gulf out through the crucial waterway, the Journal said.
Front-month West Texas Intermediate crude oil was rising 3.5% to $105.53 a barrel, and the global benchmark Brent crude contract was advancing 5.7% to $114.28 a barrel. Henry Hub natural gas futures rose 3.7% to $2.88 per 1 million BTU.
In corporate news, Chevron's (CVX) Q1 financial results set up a "meaningful" acceleration in sequential earnings, with momentum building through the rest of this year and into the first half of 2027, UBS analysts said in a note. UBS kept a buy rating on the stock and increased its price target to $220 from $218. Chevron shares were rising 1.5%.