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Wednesday's Energy Stocks: Wall Street rallies as oil and gas majors make gains

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Wednesday's Energy Stocks: Wall Street rallies as oil and gas majors make gains

Broader U.S. benchmarks rebounded on Wednesday, May 30, buoyed by a major rally by oil and gas majors. The Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 1.26% to 24,667.78, and the S&P 500 rose 1.27% to 2,724.01 at the end of the session.

Exxon Mobil Corp. stock hiked 3.93% to $81.50 at the end of an active session, and Chevron Corp. shares jumped 3.11% to close an average session at $125.16. Royal Dutch Shell PLC class A shares gained 3.31% to $69.55, and class B shares grew 3.16% to finish the day at $72.48.

A Reuters report suggested that members of OPEC and nonmembers led by Russia have decided to keep oil output cuts in place for the rest of the year, resulting in limited supply and an increase in oil prices.

Brent crude prices were up 2.96% to $77.62 while West Texas Intermediate light sweet crude prices were up 2.25% to $68.23.

Among top-performing companies were Newfield Exploration Co., whose stock jumped 5.34% to finish a light session at $29.39, and Anadarko Petroleum Corp., whose stock grew 4.74% to $70.49 after an average session.

Kinder Morgan Inc.'s share price climbed 3.24% to finish a solid session at $16.56. According to a Reuters report, Kinder Morgan struck deals with lenders and oil producers for a possible bailout in the event that the Trans Mountain oil pipeline expansion project is scrapped.

Williams Cos. Inc. shares ticked up 1.99% to end at $27.19 on slightly below-average volume, and its master limited partnership Williams Partners LP's units moved up 1.85% to wrap a brisk session at $40.20. Williams registered $10.49 billion worth of common shares in connection with its buyout of Williams Partners.

The S&P 500 Energy Index increased 3.11% to finish at 563.01, and the Alerian MLP Index closed 1.86% up at 267.12.

In the coal industry, Westmoreland Coal Co. stock was dropped 6.67% at the end of a weak session, settling at 22 cents. S&P Global Ratings lowered the coal extractor's credit rating to SD from CCC-, citing the company's $110 million bridge loan financing that subordinates first lien lenders' debt to the new loan.

Among large power producers, Covanta Holding Corp. units increased 3.12% to end a heavy session at $16.55, and NRG Energy Inc. stock added 2.05%, reaching $34.41 at the end of an average session.

In the renewables sector, Sunrun Inc. shares gained 4.55% to close active trading at $11.50, and TerraForm Power Inc. stock rose 4.23% to finish a strong session at $11.33. SunPower Corp. units dragged 2.72% to close at $8.59 on roughly average volume.

In the electric utilities business, CenterPoint Energy Inc. shares added 1.08% to finish an average session at $26.12. The company amended its credit agreement to increase aggregate commitments to $3.3 billion from $1.7 billion. AES Corp. gained 2.10% to $12.67 on above-average volume.

The S&P 500 Utilities Index gained 0.77% to finish at 256.69.

Market prices and index values are current as of the time of publication and are subject to change.

This S&P Global Market Intelligence news article may contain information about credit ratings issued by S&P Global Ratings, a separately managed division of S&P Global Inc. Descriptions in this news article were not prepared by S&P Global Ratings. The original S&P Global Ratings documents referred to in this news brief can be found here.