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Chevron, Nabors perk up energy stocks

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Gains in Chevron Corp. and oil service firm Nabors Industries stoked a reversal in energy stocks on Thursday, in a late-day surge that came despite lower crude oil prices.

Among stocks in the spotlight in the sector, Energy Transfer Partners (ETP) fell 5% after the pipeline firm raised about $600 million by offering 13.5 million shares at a price of $44.57 a share.

In a late-day surge by energy stocks, Chevron (CVX) rose 0.9%, the biggest gainer among the 30 stocks in the Dow Jones Industrial Average, which fell 25 points after losing more than 100 earlier in the session..

Among the broad energy sector benchmarks, the NYSE Arca Oil Index (XOI) rose 0.5%, the NYSE Arca Natural Gas Index (XNG) edged up 0.1%, while the Philadelphia Oil Service Index (OSX) rose 0.6%.

The Energy Select SPDR Fund (XLE) , which tracks energy companies in the S&P 500, advanced by 0.6%.

Halliburton Co. (HAL) moved up by 1.8% after Bernstein Research upgraded the company to outperform from market perform. "Buy quality when there's blood in the streets," a Bernstein analyst said about Halliburton and other shares of oil service firms that have been pushed down with lower oil prices.

Adding to gains in the energy sector, Nabors Industries (NBR) rose 2.4%, Anadarko Petroleum Corp. (APC) rose 1.7%, Murphy Oil(MUR) advanced 4%, Peabody Energy Corp. (BTU) jumped 4.5% and natural gas producer QEP Resources(QEP) rose 2.9%.

On the down side, Cabot Oil & Gas(COG) dropped 2.2%, giving back some of its big gain in the previous session.

Gains in the energy sector came despite a drop in crude prices. Oil ended 3.1% lower at $77.69 a barrel. See: Futures Movers.