Major U.S. benchmarks recovered Wednesday, Sept. 4, from the previous day's losses as global political tensions appear to have eased.
Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam formally withdrew a bill that would have allowed the extradition of individuals to mainland China from the city. In the U.K., lawmakers set up a new vote that would delay the country's departure from the European Union in the absence of an exit deal. Meanwhile, business activity growth in China reached a four-month high in August as service firms recorded higher new orders.
Also, a survey by the Federal Reserve found economic activity in nonfinancial service sectors was steady or improving.
On Wednesday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average increased 0.91% to 26,355.47, and the S&P 500 advanced 1.08% to close the day at 2,937.78.
In the energy sector, oil and gas companies outpaced other components as the S&P 500 Energy Sector increased 1.39% to 425.60, and the Alerian MLP Index added 0.74% to settle at 231.30.
Top executives from Exxon Mobil Corp. and Chevron Corp. said during the Barclays CEO-Energy Power Conference that the companies are not in any rush to acquire new assets or other companies in the Permian basin, but they are still looking for good deals.
Exxon added 1.06% on below-average volume to $69.29, and Chevron saw an increase of 0.84% to close at $117.25.
Among biggest gainers in the sector, EQT Corp. picked up 5.59% on average volume to $10.58; Concho Resources Inc. settled up 5.08% in brisk trading to $72.97; and Schlumberger Ltd. added 3.97% in above-average trading to $32.98.
Transocean Ltd. climbed 4.69% on below-average volume to end at $4.69, after announcing plans to retire its Discoverer Enterprise, Discoverer Spirit and Discoverer Deep Seas ultra-deepwater floaters.
Encana Corp. shares rose 1.83% in below-average trading to settle at $4.45. The company accepted to purchase for cancellation 47,333,333 of its common shares at US$4.50 apiece, for a total price of about US$213 million.
TC Energy Corp. was up 0.08% on light volume to close at $51.94, a day after its subsidiary Columbia Pipeline Group Inc. earned an upgrade from Fitch Ratings to A- from BBB+, with a stable outlook. Fitch based the upgrade on Columbia Pipeline's continuing completion of on-budget major projects and low debt due to equity contributions from TC Energy.
Solar shares also rallied in midweek trading, with SunPower Corp. rising 7.54% on light volume to $13.27; SolarEdge Technologies Inc. adding 6.90% in active trading to $82.89; and Sunrun Inc. advancing 3.65% in light trading to $15.33.
Equity analysts expect independent power producers Vistra Energy Corp. and NRG Energy Inc. will continue to consolidate the retail energy market, following Vistra's recent agreement to purchase Ambit Energy Holdings LLC for $475 million. Vistra closed 0.60% higher to $25.22, and NRG advanced 1.11% to $37.21, both on light volume.
Among electric and diversified utilities, Eversource Energy shares rose 1.25% on higher-than-average volume to $82.49, and PG&E Corp. added 1.14% in light trading to $10.69, while Unitil Corp. declined 1.05% on brisk volume to $61.06.
The S&P 500 Utilities Sector ticked up 0.15% to close at 321.98.
Market prices and index values are current as of the time of publication and are subject to change.
