MW: Oil stocks pounded by bearish supply, retail data
More bad news on the economy, a 280-point early decline by the Dow Jones Industrial Average and a further drop in crude-oil prices set up another rough session Wednesday for energy stocks.
Early action sent the Amex Oil Index as much as 3.7% lower to 926.29 points, with shares of Valero Energy Corp. , the nation's biggest independent refiner, leading the way on a 6.6% drop to $22.40.
Refiners typically benefit from lower crude-oil prices, and crude for February delivery was last off $1.20 at $36.58 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange as oil traders reacted to the Energy Department's report of a surprisingly sharp rise in U.S. heating oil supplies last week. See Futures Movers.
But lurking behind lower oil prices was an even more bearish batch of retail sales data from the Commerce Department that shows just how deeply the recession is biting into consumer spending, and that impacts gasoline demand.
According to the Commerce Department, December retail sales fell 2.7% from November, their biggest drop since the government started compiling such data in the early 1990s. See full story on Dec. retail sales.
Refiners weren't the only ones getting clobbered, however. Shares of the big European-based oil companies were also under pressure, with BP Plc. down 5.4% at $42.77 a share and Royal Dutch Shell down 5.2% at $50.01.
The major U.S.-based oil companies were fairing slightly better. Exxon Mobil was off 2.2% at $76.19, Chevron Corp. was down 3.2% at $69.56, and ConocoPhillips was off 3.6% at $49.37.
The Amex Natural Gas Index was down 5.4% at 358.8 points. Like the Amex Oil Index, all of its components were trading in the red.
The Philadelphia Oil Service Index , which has seen the steepest declines since crude oil prices started retracing their steps from the summer's record highs, was off 6.7% at 118.4 points. National Oilwell Varco was showing the biggest percentage decline in the group, down 10% at $23.82.
