Stocks Gain as the Price Of Crude Oil Rebounds

Stocks returned to record levels on Wednesday as a rebound in oil prices boosted energy stocks. The stock market also gained after the completion of midterm elections that saw Republicans take control of the Senate.

The direction of the stock market has been dictated by swings in the price of oil this week. Energy stocks plunged on Monday and Tuesday on reports that Saudi Arabia was cutting prices for U.S.-bound crude. On Wednesday, oil rebounded on a smaller-than-expected increase in overall U.S. supplies.

Devon Energy was the biggest gainer in the Standard & Poor’s 500 index after it reported record oil production late Tuesday and said that its third-quarter earnings more than doubled to $1.02 billion. The results were better than Wall Street analysts had forecast.

The S&P 500 rose 11.47 points, or 0.6 percent, to 2,023.57. That surpassed the previous record of 2,018.05 set on Friday. The Dow Jones industrial average gained 100.69 points, or 0.6 percent, to 17,484.53. The index is also at an all-time high. The Nasdaq composite fell two points, or less than 0.1 percent, to 4,620.72.

Investors also assessed the impact of the elections.

Evaluating data going back to 1946, analysts at S&P Capital IQ found that the stock market had its best returns when a Democratic President was opposed by a unified Republican Congress. In the eight years when that combination was in place the S&P 500 index gained an average of 15.1 percent.

The worst returns occurred when a Republican president was working with a split Congress. In that scenario, stocks rose an average of just 3.5 percent a year.

Investors also got some encouraging news on hiring on Wednesday.

U.S. companies added 230,000 jobs in October, payroll processer ADP said Wednesday. That’s the most in four months and a sign that businesses are still willing to hire despite signs of slowing growth overseas. The report could indicate a healthy gain in the government’s monthly report on jobs due out Friday.

In oil trading, Benchmark U.S. crude rose for the first time in five days, climbing $1.49 to $78.68 a barrel on a smaller-than-expected increase in overall U.S. oil supplies and a surprise decline in oil supplies at the main U.S. trading hub in Cushing, Oklahoma. Brent crude, a benchmark for international oils used by many U.S. refineries, rose 13 cents to close at $82.95 on the ICE Futures exchange in London.

Devon energy surged $5.60, or 10 percent, to $61.62 after reporting record oil production late Tuesday and saying that its third-quarter earnings more than doubled to $1.02 billion.

In currency trading, the dollar rose to 114.74 yen from 113.69 yen late Tuesday. The euro fell to $1.2472 from $1.2548. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note rose was unchanged from Tuesday at 2.34 percent.

Gold fell $22, or 1.9 percent, to $1,145.70 an ounce. Silver slid 51 cents, or 3.2 percent, to $15.43 an ounce and copper dropped 1.1 cents, or 0.4 percent, to $3.01 a pound.

In other energy futures trading, wholesale gasoline rose 0.9 cent to close at $2.087 a gallon and heating oil fell 0.4 cent to close at $2.439 a gallon. Natural gas rose for the seventh straight trading day on forecasts for colder weather. Natural gas futures rose 6.5 cents to close at $4.194 per 1,000 cubic feet.

This article appeared in print on page 12 of the November 6th, 2014 edition of Hamodia.