By Steve Gelsi, MarketWatch
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) — Shares of natural-gas producers and petroleum companies added to their losses after bearish weekly oil supply data and a triple-digit loss in the Dow Jones Industrial Average on Wednesday.
Defying gravity, shares of Nabors Industries single-handedly kept the Philadelphia Oil Service Index (OSX 209.49, +0.83, +0.40%) in positive territory.
Earnings updates from ConocoPhillips (COP 59.81, -1.56, -2.54%) and Hess Corp. (HES 61.91, -0.60, -0.96%) didn’t lift energy stocks as a group.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA 11,029, -140.62, -1.26%) .subtracted 135 points, or 1.2%.
The NYSE Arca Natural Gas Index (XNG 531.70, -8.85, -1.64%) gave up 1.5%, while the NYSE Arca Oil Index (XOI 1,069, -19.24, -1.77%) dropped 1.7%.
In commodities trading, crude-oil futures traded lower by 1.5% to the $81-a-barrel range, to coincide with an upturn in the dollar. See more on early trading in energy futures.
However, the Philadelphia Oil Service Index (OSX 209.49, +0.83, +0.40%) rose 0.3%, solely on strength in shares of Nabors Industries Ltd. (NBR 20.36, +0.92, +4.73%) , which rallied about 5% following third-quarter financial results issued late Tuesday.
Also on the earnings front, ConocoPhillips dipped 1.7% after it said third-quarter earnings doubled, while production fell slightly. See more on ConocoPhillips’ quarterly profit.
Hess (HES 61.91, -0.60, -0.96%) shares subtracted 1.1% to $61.81. The company reported third-quarter earnings of $1.31 a share, well ahead of analysts’ consensus forecast of $1.04 a share.
The Energy Information Administration reported an increase of 5 million barrels in the past week, while gasoline inventories fell by 4.4 million barrels.
