Broadermarkets and energy equities failed to hold on to Monday's gains, with the DowJones Industrial Average losing 1.09% to 18,128.66, the S&P 500 shedding1.24% to 2,136.73 and the SNL Energy Index declining 1.15% to 273.42 in tradingTuesday, Oct. 11.
Environmental activists attempted to five pipelines that bring oilsands crude into the U.S. from Canada, namely 's lines 4 and 67 inLeonard, Minn.; TransCanada Corp.'sKeystone pipeline in Walhalla, N.D.; SpectraEnergy Corp.'s Express pipeline in Coal Banks Landing, Mont.; andKinder Morgan Inc.'sTrans Mountain pipeline in Anacortes, Wash.
Enbridge dropped 0.67% in below-average volume to $43.29,Spectra closed down 0.69% on thin volume to $41.86, TransCanada slipped 3.63%in active trading to $45.66 and Kinder Morgan slid 2.80% in above-averagetrading to $20.82.
ebbed0.97% in light trading volume to settle at $46.98, after declaring its plans topurchase 30 crude,refined products and NGL logistics assets from for $1.3 billion. Underthe deal, Phillips 66 would enter into 10-year terminaling and throughputagreements for minimum commitments covering about 85% of forecast volumes.
Moody's dimmedPhillips 66 Co.'s outlook to negative from stable due to an anticipatedconsolidated leverage elevation from shareholder dividends and share buybacks.The scope and diversity of the company's refining business will somewhatmitigate the expected increase in leverage, Moody's said. Phillips 66 gave up0.91% in light trading to close at $80.56.
The SNL Midstream Energy Index edged 1.00% lower to 119.00and the SNL Gas Utility Index retreated 2.37% to 470.62.
Amongelectric utilities, Duke EnergyCorp. decreased 1.49% on above-average volume to finish at $75.91,as Wall Street analysts mostly agreed that the company's exit from itsinternational generation business is EPS dilutive in the near term, but willeliminate an earningsoverhang as the company focuses on its core holdings.
SunTrustRobinson Humphrey reduced its 2017 and 2018 EPS estimates for Duke Energy to$4.67 from $4.81 and $4.90 from $5.02, respectively. Evercore ISI, which loweredits price target to $80 from $81, said the overall international transaction is16 cents dilutive to Duke Energy's earnings while UBS Securities LLC said thesale price for Duke Energy's international assets was above the firm's initialexpectations of $1.8 billion.
Otherutility outperformers of the day were ElPaso Electric Co., which shed 2.36% on strong volume to close at$42.57; NiSource Inc.,which dropped 2.31% to $22.38 on below-average volume; , which dipped 1.59% inbelow-average trading to finish at $56.81; and , which declined1.54% on thin volume to end at $31.23. The SNL Electric Company Index gave up1.17% to 416.32.
In the coal sector, WestmorelandCoal Co. fell 5.94% in robust trading to $8.87, tumbled 1.74%in above-average volume to $27.17 and NaturalResource Partners LP decreased 1.69% in weak trading to $29.15. TheSNL Coal Index moved back 1.15% to 73.83.
After surging 8.2 cents on Oct. 10, front-month Novembernatural gas futures slidmore than 3 cents on Oct. 11 on profit taking amid generally lacklusterfundamentals. The contract moved from $3.209/MMBtu to $3.300/MMBtu, its highestlevel since mid-January 2015, before settling the day at $3.237/MMBtu, down 3.8cents.
Market prices and indexvalues are current as of the time of publication and are subject to change.