Shares of energy companies traded broadly lower in premarket trading Monday, as the Chevron Corp.’s $53 billion stock deal to buy Hess Corp. appeared to do more harm than good for the sector. The Energy Select Sector SPDR ETF XLE dropped 0.9%, with 20 of the 22 equity components that have traded ahead of the open losing ground. In comparison, futures ES00 for the S&P 500 SPX were down 0.5% and crude oil futures CL.1 fell 0.7%. Hess’ stock rose just 0.6% despite the buyout, as the fact that it was a stock deal sent Chevron’s stock falling 2.7% to pace the energy ETF’s decliners. The only other gainer in the ETF was Williams Companies Inc.’s stock WMB, which gained 0.9% but on very light volume. Among other more-active ETF components, shares of Occidental Petroleum Corp. OXY shed 1.1%, Exxon Mobil Corp.’s XOM stock gave up 0.7% and Marathon Oil Corp. shares MRO slid 1.5%. Shares of Pioneer Natural Resources Co. PXD, which Exxon Mobil agreed to buy earlier this month in a $59.5 billion stock deal, slipped 0.3% in the premarket.
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