Stocks pile on the gains for the week, ending their best month in nearly 2 years
U.S. stocks finished higher Friday, sweeping to big weekly and monthly gains, with the Nasdaq Composite...
U.S. stocks finished higher Friday, sweeping to big weekly and monthly gains, with the Nasdaq Composite scoring its best July on record. Stocks continued to rally after the Federal Reserve raised rates another 75 basis points on Wednesday in a bid to tame high inflation. Investors seemed to like what they heard from big-tech earnings this week and from Fed Chairman Jerome Powell, who said he didn't think the U.S. was in a recession yet, despite slowing economic data. The Dow Jones Industrial Index DJIA, 0.97% rose about 316 points Friday, or 1%, to close near 32,846. The blue-chip index punched about 3% higher for the week and climbed 6.7% in July, helping it edge closer to the key 32,877.66 closing level needed to officially exit correction territory, according to Dow Jones Market Data. The S&P 500 index SPX, 1.42% rose 1.4% Friday, 4.3% for the week and 9.1% for July, according to Factset. The Nasdaq Composite Index COMP, 1.88% gained 1.9% Friday, 4.7% for the week and 12.4% for the month. The strong monthly advance was the best month for the Dow and S&P 500 since Nov. 2020 and the best month for the Nasdaq since April 2020, according to Dow Jones Market Data.
U.S. oil prices settle higher for the week, down for the month
U.S. oil futures climbed...
U.S. oil futures climbed on Friday, posting a gain for the week on tight supplies, but prices were down for the month as worries about a potential U.S. recession dulled the outlook for energy demand. Still, "with no major signs of fuel demand destruction, oil seems like it will soon find a home above the $100 a barrel mark," said Edward Moya, senior market analyst at OANDA. September West Texas Intermediate crude CLU22, 2.27% rose $2.20, or 2.3%, to settle at $98.62 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Prices based on the front-month contract climbed 4.1% for the week, and lost nearly 6.8% for the month, according to Dow Jones Market Data.
U.S. drillers add oil and gas rigs for record 24th month
The total oil and gas rig count, an early indicator of future output, rose nine...
The total oil and gas rig count, an early indicator of future output, rose nine to 767 in the week to July 29, its highest since March 2020, energy services firm Baker Hughes Co said in its closely followed report on Friday.
U.S. oil rigs rose six to 605 this week, their highest since March 2020, while gas rigs increased two to 157.
For the month, the total oil and gas rig count rose 14, the smallest increase since September. In July, the oil rig count rose 11, increasing for a record 23rd month in a row, while the gas count was unchanged after rising for 10 straight months.
Even though the total rig count has climbed for a record 24 months through July, weekly increases have mostly been in the single digits and oil production is still below pre-pandemic record levels.
Drilling in western Oklahoma by Continental Resources resulted in a Custer County...
Drilling in western Oklahoma by Continental Resources resulted in a Custer County gas well with the production of more than 14,000 Mcf of natural gas a day.
The company filed a completion reportthis week showing the Schrock 3-14-23-26xhm, located at 14 14N 14W, a site about 4 miles southeast of the town of Thomas.
The well, spudded in November 2021 was completed on May 20 of this year at a drilled depth of 28,035 in the Mississippian formation. Its production totaled 14,455 Mcf of natural gas.
Ever since the Cushing hub hit a low of 21.3 million barrels on the first of July, storage has slowly...
Ever since the Cushing hub hit a low of 21.3 million barrels on the first of July, storage has slowly increased.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration reported this week Cushing had an estimated 23.5 million barrels of crude oil in storage as of July 22. It was an increase of 700,000 barrels from July 15 when there was an estimated 22.8 million barrels on hand.
On July 8, Cushing held 21.6 million barrels of crude oil. On July 23 of last year, the hub held 35.4 million barrels.
