Major indexes rallied on Wednesday, June 6, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbing 1.40% to settle at 25,146.39, and the S&P 500 advancing 0.86% to end the day at 2,772.35. In the energy sector, meanwhile, utilities took a beating as the S&P 500 Utilities Sector lost 2.13% to settle at 243.95.
Tesla Inc. shares soared 9.74% on more than twice the average volume to finish at $319.50, after shareholders overwhelmingly supported CEO Elon Musk in voting down a resolution to strip him of his role as chairman. A bid to block reappointment of three board members to new terms also failed. Tesla also unveiled plans to build its first "Gigafactory" outside the U.S., in Shanghai, followed by another in Europe.
Solar stocks concluded the trading session with losses, with SunPower Corp. shedding 6.99% to $7.32, Canadian Solar Inc. retreating 4.97% to $12.44, and First Solar Inc. closing down 4.65% to $55.53, all on heavy volume.
Among utilities, PPL Corp. saw a decrease of 4.50% to $25.67 as Macquarie Research reiterated its "underperform" rating of the company. Duke Energy Corp. declined 2.15% to $73.14 as company Chairman, President and CEO Lynn Good cited rising yields on Treasury notes. NextEra Energy Inc. slid 1.99% to $156.13. All traded above-average volumes.
In the oil and gas sector, Devon Energy Corp. spiked up 5.57% on strong volume to close at $41.51, after it agreed to sell its ownership stakes in EnLink Midstream Partners LP, EnLink Midstream LLC and Enlink Midstream Manager LLC to an affiliate of the fund manager Global Infrastructure Partners for approximately $3.13 billion.
The sale is part of Devon's ongoing strategy to simplify its portfolio and is expected to cut Devon's consolidated debt by 40%. EnLink Midstream Partners executives declined to elaborate whether the deal would speed up structural simplification plans.
EnLink Midstream Partners LP dropped 1.69% to settle at $17.47, and EnLink Midstream LLC was down 3.93% to end at $17.10, both in active trading.
Plains All American Pipeline LP rose 1.54% on weak volume to close at $24.34. Executives said the partnership is working hard to get around crude oil transportation bottlenecks in West Texas and Western Canada, but it remains unclear whether aboveground alternatives can completely fill the gap.
Shares of Exxon Mobil Corp. picked up 1.71% on below-average volume to finish at $82.06, after acquiring 50% of Equinor ASA's interest in the BM-S-8 block offshore Brazil containing part of the Carcara oil field.
The S&P 500 Energy Sector closed up 0.56% to settle at 557.43, while the Alerian MLP Index dipped 0.68% to 269.87.
Market prices and index values are current as of the time of publication and are subject to change.
