Energy shares led market gainers as oil prices continued to rise.
Oil futures scored a roughly 5% gain for the week as U.S. prices touched highs above $80 a barrel for the first time in almost seven years.
While data earlier in the week signaled rising crude inventories in the U.S., oil's brief spell of bearishness was ended Thursday by the Department of Energy saying it had no intention of tapping the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to ease tightening energy markets and rising fuel prices.
The number of active, oil-targeted rigs in the U.S. climbed by five in the latest week to an 18-month-high of 433, said oilfield services company Baker Hughes. The rig count, a gauge of oil patch activity, has now risen for nine of the past 10 weeks and suggests U.S. oil production could continue to rise over the coming weeks and months as higher oil prices provide an incentive for producers to pump more crude.
Meanwhile, natural gas prices rose slightly Friday after a wild trading week that saw some of the biggest one-day moves, both higher and lower, in years. The market closed at a 13-year-high $6.312 on Tuesday but has come down considerably since, amid easing fears of any U.S. contagion from a European energy crunch.
Write to Amy Pessetto at amy.pessetto@dowjones.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
10-08-21 1650ET
