Broader stock indexes finished the Wednesday, Nov. 29, session mixed, with most energy sector benchmarks also finishing lower.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average increased 0.44% to close the day at 23,940.68, while the S&P 500 lost 0.04% to finish at 2,626.07. The SNL Energy Index edged down 0.27% to wrap up the midweek session at 287.90.
TC PipeLines LP stock shed 2.59% to close an active day at $48.88, Western Gas Partners LP shares lost 2.03% to close a heavy trading day at $42.92, and Rice Midstream Partners LP shares lost 1.95%, ending the session at $20.10 on thin volume.
Enbridge Energy Partners LP finished a heavy trading session gaining 4.18% to a $13.45 closing price, Enbridge Energy Management LLC added 2.60% to close at $12.65 on high volume, and EQT Corp. units added 2.18% to close at $58.11 on slim volume.
Marathon Oil Corp. entered into a deal to redeem at par the outstanding $1 billion of 5.125% municipal revenue bonds due 2037, cutting its gross debt by $1 billion. Marathon's shares hiked 1.30% to close at $14.75 on slim volume.
TransCanada Corp. shares lost 2.88% to close at $48.21 on above-average volume. Federal regulators cleared a TransCanada affiliate to increase the natural gas transportation capacity of border-crossing facilities between the U.S. and Canada from 178 MMcf/d to 210 MMcf/d.
The SNL Midstream Energy Index retreated 0.59% to close at 100.99.
Independent power producers did not have a profitable midweek session, reflected by the SNL Merchant Generator Index losing 1.07% to close at 103.57.
TerraForm Power Inc shares shed 4.07% to finish the session at $12.25 on slim volume, NRG Energy Inc. shares ended the session 2.29% lower at $28.20 on active volume, and 8point3 Energy Partners LP shares trimmed 1.71% to close lower at $14.92 on just below-average volume.
Among other renewable companies, SunPower Corp. shrunk 4.87% to close the day at $8.21 on above-average volume, Vivint Solar Inc. shed 4.17% to close at $3.45 on about average volume, and First Solar Inc. stock declined 3.40% to $60.02 at market close on thin volume.
In the electric utilities sector, Otter Tail Corp. and Hawaiian Electric Industries Inc. made gains, while Southern Co. shares lost value.
Otter Tail shares rose 1.36% to close at $48.40 on high volume, and Hawaiian Electric added 1.09% to close at $38.13 on below-average volume. Southern shares edged down 0.78% to finish a brisk midweek session at $51.09.
The SNL Electric Company Index rose 0.07% to close at 512.82.
In the coal sector, Alliance Holdings GP LP gave away 1.41% to close at $24.47 on heavy volume, and Alliance Resource Partners LP shares lost 1.10% to end the day at $18.00 on active volume. Warrior Met Coal Inc. gained 2.85% to reach $21.29 at market close on strong volume.
The SNL Coal Index lost 4.54% to 62.44 at market close.
In its first day in the lead position, NYMEX January 2018 natural gas futures continued to advance Wednesday. Tacking on 11.1 cents in the Nov. 29 session, the front-month contract settled at $3.179/MMBtu, up 5.1 cents, after posting a two-week high on the spot continuation chart at $3.218/MMBtu.
Market prices and index values are current as of the time of publication and are subject to change.
