Shares of energy companies fell early Thursday as oil and natural-gas prices fell following the previous session’s revelation that a recent cold snap around the country still failed to make a serious dent in ample U.S. energy supplies.
The oil-services sector was further depressed by disappointing fourth-quarter earnings from Baker Hughes Inc.
The Amex Oil Index (XOI : 1,159.34, 11.77, 1.0% ) was down 0.8% to 1,161.09 points as crude for March delivery fell $1.10 to $56.90 a barrel. The Amex Natural Gas Index (XNG : 455.97, 4.04, 0.9% ) slipped 0.8% to 456.29 points as natural gas fell 0.6% to $7.19 per million British thermal units.
The Philadelphia Oil Service Index ($OSX : 196.23, 3.59, 1.8% ) suffered the biggest hit, dropping 1.5% to 196.76 points.
Baker Hughes (BHI :65.60, 6.34, 8.8% ) was a major drag on the index, falling 8.5% to $65.85 after reporting that fourth-quarter net income rose to $326.2 million, or $1.02 a share, from $257.9 million, or 75 cents a share, a year ago, after charges related to a settlement deal with the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Department of Justice amounted to 12 cents a share, or $46 million.
Analysts had been expecting the drilling and oil-services company to post earnings of $1.19 a share, according to data compiled by Thomson Financial.
"Faster money has run stock recently but will bolt today," said independent energy analyst Dan Pickering of Pickering Energy Partners in a pre-market note to clients. "We’ll buy (likely) on big pullback as Baker Hughes is too cheap to abandon," he said.
