S&P 500 top movers: Energy stocks post strong gains on rising crude oil prices

• S&P 500 remains on track to close higher for fourth straight day.
• Energy shares are rising sharply on rallying crude oil prices.
• Noble Energy Inc (NBL) gains more than 7% as the top-performer.

Wall Street’s main indexes started the day with strong gains on the back of the upbeat US jobs report on Thursday. However, the growing number of coronavirus cases caused market sentiment to turn sour and capped stocks’ gains.

Nevertheless, the S&P 500 (SPX) was last up 0.93% on the day at 3,145 points, looking to close the fourth straight day in the positive territory. For the week, the S&P 500 is up 4.5% and stock markets in the US will be closed on Friday due to the Independence Day holiday.

Earlier in the day, the US Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that Nonfarm Payrolls increased by 4.8 million in June, beating experts’ forecast of 3 million by an impressive margin.

S&P 500 top movers

On Wednesday, the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported that crude oil stocks in the US declined by 7.2 million barrels for the week ending July 26th. Boosted by this data and easing concerns over the demand outlook, the barrel of West Texas Intermediate (WTI) advanced to a fresh nine-day high of $40.60 on Thursday. As of writing, the WTI was up 1.7% on the day at $40.37.

Supported by the WTI’s upsurge, the S&P 500 Energy Index is gaining nearly 2% on the day. Noble Energy Inc (NBL), 
Diamondback Energy Inc (FANG) and Cabot Oil & Gas Corp (COG) shares are up 7.77%, 5.6% and 4.6%, respectively.

On the other hand, DISH Network Corp (DISH) down 3.47% on the day at $33.42 as the top-decliner.