Oil Majors Are Close to Erasing All Losses Since Pandemic Began
(Bloomberg) -- European oil majors are erasing their pandemic slump as tensions between Russia and the West drive Brent crude above $92 a barrel.
The Stoxx Europe 600 energy sub-index is outperforming all other sectors on Friday as crude heads for its seventh week of gains. Shell Plc, BP Plc and TotalEnergies SE led the rally, and the companies have now either erased their pandemic losses entirely or are close to doing so.
Energy stocks have had the best returns in Europe so far in 2022 and strategists are bullish on a sector that underperformed in the past three years. A tight market and tensions around Ukraine have sent crude prices soaring. Now, investors are looking to earnings and guidance from the biggest companies to see where the stocks go from here.
“Energy stocks are an attractive diversifier as the sector remains absolute and relative cheap with ongoing earnings upgrades,” said Ulrich Urbahn, head of multi-asset strategy and research at Berenberg. “On top, the sector could also benefit from geopolitical tensions, strong nominal GDP growth in 2022, rising bond yields and heightened inflation risks.”
Shell led gains on Friday, rising for a second day after expanding its share buybacks as the company reported profit that blew past analyst estimates.
While Joachim Klement, head of strategy, accounting and sustainability at Liberum Capital, is bullish on energy for the first quarter, he expects gains to be capped around March due to concern about a slowdown in China as well as the seasonal decline in demand.
©2022 Bloomberg L.P.
-
Ten Things I Learnt This Samvat
Patience can be a trap. Cheap stocks can stay cheap. Leverage can wipe you out. What did Samvat 2082 teach us? Niraj Shah writes on 10 lessons from the year gone by.
-
Talking Points This Week: Tech Nerves, FII Buying, And A Faraway Banking Shock
The global markets are not shining this Diwali. The exception in the large markets is, India.
-
Midterm Rally Lasted A Day. The Hard Reality Of A Divided US May Last Two Years | Opinion
Between a contested AI boom, a debt ceiling that arrives in 2027 and a president with every incentive to act alone, the next two years may prove more volatile than the first day's rally suggests.
-
Blue Wave Will Derail the AI Trade but Won't Dismantle the AI Era | Unhedged Position
The Democrats' sweep of the US Congress will see politics collide with economic forces both over the long and short term.
-
It's Time To Take The GST Council's Bet On Trust Global
Payment records can prove India's services exports, and clear, proportionate rules can bring foreign digital sellers into the tax net.
-
Opinion | India at 38: From Innovation Overperformer to Innovation Powerhouse
India now has 453 VC-backed deep science startups, 18 of them late-stage, after 117 percent growth since 2020. Laurus Labs, at USD 9.3 billion, is the most valuable deep science company in any middle-income economy outside China.
-
Navigating Energy Crossroads: S Jaishankar's Call For Diversified Supply Chains At G20 Ministerial Meeting
As geopolitical fault lines continue to test maritime trade routes and commodity flows, Jaishankar's message remains pertinent: true economic resilience requires open markets, protected transit lines, and a genuine commitment to multilateral cooperation rather than coercion.
-
Indians Are Travelling, But Not Every Journey Is A Holiday | The Week In Whys
Pilgrims, patients and working women are the real travellers, and the system hasn't quite caught up with them.
-
Getting To Work Costs Women More | The Reason Why
It is not just about women paying more than men. It is about women paying much more in cities than in villages.