SRUUF - Retail energy trades blow up in otherwise calm energy markets

Energy commodities and large-cap energy stocks performed reasonably well Thursday, while thematic small-cap energy names traded sharply lower. With small-cap names in other sectors (IWM) trading in line with larger-cap peers (SPY), there's no clear explanation for the small-cap energy route.    Brent (CO1:COM) and WTI (CL1:COM) traded up ~1% near mid-day Thursday. US natural gas (NG1;COM) fell ~2% on a larger-than-expected inventory build, though European natural gas closed higher by almost 5%. Seaborne thermal coal prices also rallied, with Newcastle coal (XAL1:COM) rising ~$5 to $331. In large cap energy, Exxon (XOM) caught an upgrade from RBC and traded higher on the day, alongside Cheniere (LNG). European majors Shell (SHEL) and BP (BP) also closed higher in Europe, though both names moved lower during US afternoon trading. EQT (EQT) performed poorly, despite an increased price target from Piper Thursday, as US natural gas prices weakened. Interestingly, small-cap energy stocks, largely

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Retail energy trades blow up in otherwise calm energy markets