By Catherine Carlock, MarketWatch
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) - Energy stocks were among the equities market's top gainers Wednesday, propelled by crude's surge back above $73 a barrel and supported by a 125-point advance by the Dow Jones Industrials.
The NYSE Arca Oil Index (XOI 908.84, +17.56, +1.97%) was ahead 2.3% at 912.17 points, with all 13 components trading higher.
Leading the group's percentage gainers was Anadarko Petroleum Corp. (APC 40.85, +2.21, +5.72%) , up 5.6% at $40.80. BP PLC (BP 32.77, +0.86, +2.70%) was also charging ahead, up 3.8% at $33.13 a share.
BP CEO Tony Hayward met with Abu Dhabi crown prince Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan this week and would allow the oil-rich emirate to hold a 10% stake in the company, according to Zawya Dow Jones. Read about the report.
BP's shares, which lost over half their value after the April 20 Macondo field oil well explosion, are up 21% gain from their June 25 low of $27.02.
Exane BNP Paribas analysts rated BP stock an outperform on Wednesday, even though it's not clear whether BP will be proven negligent in the disaster or whether will be able to hand off some of the cleanup costs to well partners Anadarko and Mitsui & Co. (MITSY 247.55, +5.06, +2.09%) .
Anadarko has a joint operating contract with BP and owns a 25% stake in the still-leaking oil well. BP recently asked Anadarko to shoulder $272.2 million of the cleanup cost, according to the Associated Press.
The underlying commodities market supported the sector, with crude for August delivery last adding $1.27, or 1.8%, to reach $73.27 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. See Futures Movers.
The Arca Natural Gas Index (XNG 491.24, +8.55, +1.77%) was up 1.9% at 491.71 points, with each of its 15 components trading higher. Independent natural gas company El Paso Corp. (EP 11.46, +0.38, +3.43%) was ahead 3.5% at $11.47 a share.
The Philadelphia Oil Service Sector Index (OSX 170.87, +4.48, +2.69%) was last up 2.5% at 169.37 points, with all 15 index components ahead in morning trade. Land driller Nabors Industries Ltd. (NBR 18.23, +0.70, +3.99%) was leading percentage gainers with a 3.9% boost to $18.21 a share.
Oilfield-pump supplier Lufkin Industries Inc. (LUFK 39.43, +1.63, +4.31%) was up 3.6% at $39.17 a share, while Halliburton Co. (HAL 27.60, +1.14, +4.31%) saw a 3.8% boost to $27.46 a share.
Outside of the three major indexes, independent power producer AES Corp. (AES 9.68, +0.78, +8.76%) jumped 8.5% to $9.64 a share in morning trade. The merchant power provider announced a $500 million share buyback, which should be completed by the end of December.
