COM - Energy stocks slide again as inventory data highlight demand destruction worry

Shares of energy companies fell sharply on Thursday, again sitting at the bottom of the S&P 500 leaderboard, as signs of slowing consumption sent oil prices sliding to six-week lows. The Energy Select Sector SPDR ETF (NYSEARCA:XLE) closed -3.7%, slumping 25% from its peak in early June and nearly 19% this week alone, although the group is still up 26%. U.S. crude oil futures (CL1:COM) closed -1.8% to $104.27/bbl, the lowest since May 10, after the American Petroleum Institute estimated U.S. crude inventories surprisingly increased by 5.6M barrels for the week ending June 17, underscoring concerns about demand destruction. The Energy Information Administration delayed the release of its weekly report on oil inventories due to problems with its systems; analysts were forecasting a 1.2M-barrel drop in crude inventories and an 800K-barrel decline in gasoline stockpiles. U.S. natural gas futures (NG1:COM) settled -9% to $6.239/MMBtu, the lowest closing price since April

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Energy stocks slide again as inventory data highlight demand destruction worry