Shares of oil-field service companies rallied sharply today. By 3 p.m. EDT, NexTier Oilfield Solutions (NYSE: NEX) was up more than 40%, while peers Patterson-UTI Energy (NASDAQ: PTEN) and ProPetro Holdings (NYSE: PUMP) were up 25% and 12%, respectively. Those rallies came even though Patterson-UTI reported ugly first-quarter results with an even more dire outlook for what's ahead.
Instead of focusing on those negatives, investors bid up energy stocks today due to a rally in oil prices. The June contract for WTI, the main U.S. oil price benchmark, zoomed more than 20% to around $17 a barrel on the hope that more producers will cut production and ease the industry's glut of oil.
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