Energy Shares Up After ADP Data -- Energy Roundup

Shares of energy producers rose slightly after a surprisingly strong private-sector jobs survey in the U.S.

Still, oil futures slipped further below $50 a barrel, continuing a retreat from earlier this week predicated on the belief that the OPEC production cuts would fail to rebalance global oil markets. Oil futures initially rose after a report that U.S. storage levels fell by nearly three times as much as expected in the week ended Friday.

"Oil prices have been weak this year as concerns over the supply/demand balance have resurfaced and the market seems to have turned negative on Energy stocks," said strategists at money manager Alpha Capital Management, in a note to clients. "There doesn't seem to be an overwhelming sense of panic like there was during the 'oil crisis' at the beginning of last year but the sector is still performing poorly...what is surprising is how large the divergence between the top and bottom [sector] performers has gotten," the strategists said.

(-By Rob Curran, rob.curran@dowjones.com)

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

June 01, 2017 16:14 ET (20:14 GMT)