MW: Energy stocks dragged lower by falling oil price
By MarketWatch
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) - Oil and gas stocks started the third quarter lower Thursday as disappointing economic data and crude's fall below $73 a barrel weighed on the sector.
The NYSE Arca Natural Gas Index (XNG 473.28, -8.82, -1.83%) led the sector's decline, falling 1.3% to 475.84 points.
Natural-gas company Questar Corp. (STR 15.24, -30.25, -66.50%) boosted shares as much as 5% in morning trading after announcing it completed the spin-off of QEP Resources Inc. as an exploration and production company. QEP is to replace Questar on the S&P 500 Index (SPX 1,013, -17.47, -1.70%) . Questar was last trading up 4.6% at $15.33 a share.
The Philadelphia Oil Service Sector Index (OSX 162.26, -1.87, -1.14%) fell 0.7% to 162.94 points.
The NYSE Arca Oil Index (XOI 874.17, -9.45, -1.07%) slipped 0.4% to 880.45 points, with BP PLC (BP 30.15, +1.27, +4.39%) holding gains. BP jumped 4.5% to $30.17 in morning trade after a London Financial Times story said the oil giant is seeking to raise $5 billion in short-term loans to handle liabilities stemming from the Gulf of Mexico oil spill.
Hess Corp. (HES 49.22, -1.12, -2.23%) was down 1.4% to $49.62 after it was downgraded to equal weight from overweight by Morgan Stanley, following the lack of near-term drilling catalysts and uncertainty in the Gulf.
August crude-oil futures dropped for a fourth consecutive session Thursday, falling $3.02, or 4%, to $72.61 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. See Futures Movers.
