(MENAFN- ProactiveInvestors) US energy stocks led Wall Street shares higher at midsession on Monday after speculation that US shale output is falling spurred a 8% spike in oil prices and a rally in equities. Although too early to write off another drop in crude prices on Gulf oil supply expansion some oil dealers seen it as at least arresting what has been a 20-month collapse in oil prices. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 1.44% at 16628 the broader S&P500 was up 1.28% at 1942 and the Nasdaq gained 1.36% to 4565. The top riders on the oil news were Chesapeake Energy (NYSE:CHK) up 19% to $2.38 and Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) up 13% at $7.79. In fact only third-biggest riser Alcoa (NYSE:AA) was the odd one out in the top nine risers in the S&P500 being energy stocks. Meanwhile Chevron (NYSE:CVX) led the Dow with a 3.2% gain to $89.32. The US benchmark West Texas Intermediate was up 8.1% at $32.05 a barrel. OPEN Following the lead of European markets and encouraged by the resurgence of the oil price US blue-chips opened sharply higher. The US oil benchmark West Texas Intermediate for March delivery was up more than 7% after the Baker Hughes rig count reported a decline in oil rigs in use in the US for the ninth week in a row. The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite were both up 1.4% after 45 minutes of trading with the former up 26 points at 1944 and the latter up 61 points at 4566. The Dow Jones was up 1.3% or 210 points at 16602. Not surprisingly energy stocks such as Chesapeake Energy (NYSE:CHK) and CONSOL Energy (NYSE:CNX) were among the blue-chip leaders. Mid-cap Kosmos Energy (NYSE:KOS) shot up 15.4% as the company declared an underlying net income of $17.6mln in the fourth quarter which reduced the loss for the year to $65.6mln. Flooring firm Lumber Liquidators (NYSE:LL) slumped more than 20% after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention revealed that its previous assessment of the cancer risk posed by the retailer's flooring which contains known carcinogen formaldehyde had been on the low side. Skin health company Photomedex (NASDAQ:PHMD) up 46% was wanted after it unveiled plans to sell its consumer and professional business to DS Healthcare Group for around $48mln. Preview Wall Street futures are pointing to be brighter start to the week with crude markets again providing the direction. As US crude moves more than 4% higher to $33.10 this morning traders in New York are looking to a positive session for equities. Dow Jones futures are up some 177 an hour before the opening bell at 16531 while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq are also seen just over 1% higher. In Europe London's FTSE100 made a bright start as investors shrugged off any concerns over Britain leaving the UK the European Union. The blue chip index was 70 points higher at 6022 as campaigning started in earnest for the referendum in four months time. It comes after a deal was struck by Prime Minister David Cameron on Friday night over reforms he had sought. Boris Johnson London's Mayor has already come out on the "no" side though a raft of British businesses today backed the PM's stay-put stance.
Legal Disclaimer:
MENAFN provides the information “as is” without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the provider above.