Broader markets recorded small gains on Friday, Sept. 6, after Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said moderate economic growth is the "most likely outlook" for the United States.
During his last scheduled appearance ahead of the next Federal Open Market Committee meeting, Powell said the Fed is monitoring "significant risks" around its favorable outlook, but the U.S. economy is in a "good place" and is likely to stay there.
Powell spoke hours after the latest U.S. jobs report showed the country added 130,000 nonfarm payroll jobs in August, below economists' expectations of 163,000 jobs gained. The slower-than-expected jobs report all but assures a 25-basis-point cut at the FOMC's September meeting, analysts said.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average saw a 0.26% increase to settle at 26,797.46, and the S&P 500 ticked up 0.09% to finish at 2,978.71.
Meanwhile, energy equities capped the day mixed.
Innergex Renewable Energy Inc. shed 1.81% on slightly higher trading volume on the Toronto Stock Exchange to close at C$15.20. It plans to offer on a bought-deal basis C$125 million of its 4.65% convertible unsecured debentures due Oct. 31, 2026.
Hydro One Ltd. declined 0.61% in brisk trading on the Toronto Stock Exchange to finish at C$24.58. Together with a pair of First Nations enterprises, Hydro One completed a 230-kV, double-circuit transmission line to boost reliability and small-generator access to markets in southern Ontario.
Among other Canadian power companies, Atlantic Power Corp. shed 2.56% in light trading to close at C$3.05, Northland Power Inc declined 1.33% on strong volume to C$25.13, and AltaGas Ltd. closed 1.08% lower on slightly above-average volume at C$18.32.
PG&E Corp. shares retreated 3.50% on light volume to $10.19, after the author of a last-minute California Legislative proposal that would help utility Pacific Gas and Electric Co. pay billions of dollars in wildfire claims said that the measure will not move forward this year.
Evergy Inc. dropped 1.27% on strong volume to close at $63.96. The company sold $1.6 billion of its senior unsecured notes to repay $1 billion of unsecured term loan due Sept. 15, to repurchase common stock under its ongoing share repurchase program and for general corporate purposes.
In other electric and diversified utilities, WEC Energy Group Inc. lost 2.31% in brisk trading to finish at $93.13; Dominion Energy Inc. shed 1.37% on lower-than-average volume to $76.37; and Ameren Corp. declined 1.23% in above-average volume to end the week at $76.19.
The S&P 500 Utilities Sector was down 0.33% to 317.09.
In the oil and gas sector, Shah Capital Management Inc. managing general partner Himanshu Shah, a North Carolina investment adviser, is pressuring Gulfport Energy Corp. to cut spending and sell some assets to finance the quick buyback of 30 million shares, about $80 million at current prices.
Shah noted that Gulfport's stock has lost 95% of its value over the last five years and is trading at its lowest level since going public.
Gulfport shares settled the day 4.73% lower on below-average volume to close at $2.62.
Exxon Mobil Corp. rose 0.94% in light trading to $70.93, following a report that it signed an exclusivity deal with Eni SpA subsidiary Vår Energi AS on a potential sale of the oil major's upstream assets in Norway.
New Jersey Resources Corp. subsidiary NJR Midstream struck a deal to buy the Leaf River Energy Center LLC, a natural gas storage facility in southeastern Mississippi, from Macquarie Infrastructure Partners Inc. for $367.5 million.
Shares of New Jersey Resources were down 1.89% on slightly higher volume to finish the session at $45.21.
The S&P 500 Energy Sector added 0.52% to close at 433.24, and the Alerian MLP Index declined 0.76% to end at 229.53.
Slightly recovering from a stock slide the previous day, Peabody Energy Corp. gained 2.11% on strong volume to close at $16.91. The company had warned investors of a potential hit to third-quarter earnings results in an announcement about its new refinancing efforts.
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. Descriptions in this news article were not prepared by S&P Global Ratings.
