Lloyds Banking Group shares dropped roughly 3.3% to around 99.1 pence Monday morning, with investors trimming bank holdings after another jump in energy prices.
Energy markets braced for a choppy start after strikes by the U.S. and Israel on Iran rattled nerves over potential Middle East supply shocks. Exxon Mobil finished Friday’s session at $152.50, up $3.96, or 2.7%. “The strike raises geopolitical risk premia as markets head into Monday’s open,” said OCBC strategist Christopher Wong in Singapore.
The U.S. and Israel carried out a “pre-emptive” strike on Iran on Saturday, jolting markets and pulling oil producers, defense contractors, and some shipping stocks into focus ahead of Monday’s U.S. session.
BP’s stock edged down nearly 1% to 474 pence as of 0825 GMT in London. Investors eyeing the 0.083-per-share cash dividend, payable March 27, need to be on the books by the Feb. 20 record date.
Shell's shares barely budged in early London action this Wednesday, with the oil giant continuing its stock buybacks. Still, weaker crude prices weighed on the sector.
Chevron Corp rebounded Friday, finishing up 0.73% at $183.74. The day before, shares had dropped 1.84%. During Friday’s session, the stock moved between $181.72 and $184.84.
SLB dropped 1.8% to finish at $50.64 on Thursday, slipping 2.6% from Wednesday’s 52-week high of $51.99. Around 23.7 million shares changed hands, topping the 50-day average, while the S&P 500 lost 1.57%. Halliburton and NOV each fell more than 2%. Baker Hughes, on the other hand, managed a slight uptick.
Exxon Mobil slipped 0.8% to $154.31 Thursday morning, trailing as crude prices pulled back and with some investors moving to the sidelines ahead of the dividend cutoff.
Chevron shares slipped Tuesday, trimming a bit of Monday’s rally. Reuters reported that output at the Tengiz oilfield in Kazakhstan—where Chevron leads operations—had bounced back to roughly 60% of peak levels after being hit by an outage in January.
Transocean Ltd climbed roughly 6% to $5.71 in U.S. premarket trading Tuesday, with investors still digesting the offshore driller’s deal to acquire Valaris Ltd. Shares of Valaris jumped about 34% to $83.82.
Exxon Mobil shares closed up 1.45% at $151.21 on Monday, setting a new 52-week high as energy names outpaced the broader market. Volume topped its recent average, and peers Chevron and ConocoPhillips also finished higher.
Shell’s U.S. shares wrapped up Friday at $75.29, gaining 63 cents, or roughly 0.8%. Come Monday, the stock faces pressure as crude slides—Brent lost 1% early, touching $67.38 a barrel after the U.S. and Iran agreed to extend nuclear talks. “With more talks on the horizon the immediate fear of supply disruptions in the Middle East has eased quite a bit,” said IG market analyst Tony Sycamore.
PetroChina Co., Ltd. Class A shares—those traded in yuan on the mainland—caught attention ahead of Monday’s session. The stock closed out Friday at 10.77 yuan, up 2.3%.
Chevron wrapped up Friday on a positive note, its shares finishing higher as the company gears up for Monday with oil prices again taking center stage following another week packed with headlines for crude.
Shares of Saudi Arabian Oil Co slipped 0.39% to close at 25.50 riyals on Sunday, shaving off 10 halalas as the Saudi market finished its opening session for the week. According to Saudi Exchange data, the stock ranged from 25.46 up to 25.68, with roughly 6.35 million shares traded.
Chevron shares climbed Friday, ending the session just below their high from early February. Oil prices strengthened, while investors digested another executive shakeup at the U.S. oil giant.