US stocks advanced at midsession on Monday after stronger equity sentiment in Europe on fading Brexit fears as well as stronger oil prices buoyed Wall Street.
The market bellwether S&P 500 index was up 1% at 2,091 with a slew of energy stocks dominating the gains league. Marathon Oil Corp (NYSE:MRO) was the top gainer of 10.8% to $414.57, followed by Southwestern Energy Corp (NYSE:SWN) up 6.5% to $13.93, Murphy Oil Corp (NYSE:MUR) up 6.2% to $31.22 and Freeport-McMoRan Inc (NYSE:FCX) up 5.5% to $11.75.
The S&P Midcap 400 advanced by 1.3% to 1,499 and led by Denbury Resources (NYSE:DNR), up 7.1% to $4.53.
But Denbury was not just basking in the glow of oil price gains. Zacks Equity Research described DNR is an independent oil and natural gas company that could be an interesting play for investors. That is because, not only does the stock have decent short-term momentum, but it is seeing solid activity on the earnings estimate revision front as well.
“These positive earnings estimate revisions suggest that analysts are becoming more optimistic on DNR’s earnings for the coming quarter and year. In fact, consensus estimates have moved sharply higher for both of these time frames over the past four weeks, suggesting that Denbury Resources could be a solid choice for investors,” Zacks said.
The S&P Smallcap 600 index was 1.8% higher at 713.
The US oil benchmark, West Texas Intermediate, was 2.4% higher at $49.14 as oil visited levels not seen for a week.
Gold began the week on the backfoot after opinion polls on Britain’s EU referendum showed rising support for the Remain camp taking the wind out of the recent rally in safe haven assets.
Gold, which fell as much as 1.6% on Monday, pared back its losses to trade 1% lower at $1,285.89 an ounce in late morning trading.
Preview
The US market indexes look set to open more than 1% higher, to follow a strong performance in Asian and Europe.
The Nikkei closed 2.3% higher on the back of a weakening Yen and new polls which suggest that the UK is more likely to stay in the T
The FTSE 100 jumped 3%, also bolstered by the latest ‘Brexit’ polls.
Speadbetting firms are predicting the Dow Jones Industrial Average to open around 200 points, or 1.1%, higher at 17,868.
Elsewhere, the US dollar index has slipped again, losing 0.5% to sit at 93.6, with the British pound – heading for its biggest daily rise in seven years – trading at 1.46479 against the dollar, up more than 2%.
“While today’s economic calendar is relatively quiet other than this afternoon’s Canadian Wholesale Sales, attention later in the week will be on Fed Chair Yellen’s testimony on the Semiannual Monetary Policy Report and Thursday’s EU Referendum,” said Alexandra Russell-Oliver, FX analyst at Caxton.