Sector movers: Oil majors catch a bid after nearly a month of share price declines

Oil & Gas shares caught a bid on Monday, tracking a rebound in oil prices after about two month's of losses, despite strength in the Greenback.

Contributing to those gains was news that analysts at Goldman Sachs were forecasting that the price of Brent crude would reach $86 a barrel in the third quarter.

The analysts were anticipating that oil markets would see a shortfall of 1.3m barrels a day over the three months ending in September.

Barring geopolitical hits to supplies the broker still saw a range of $75-90 as the most likely scenario for 2024, followed by an average price of $82 a barrel in 2025, Dow Jones Newswires reported.

Data published on 7 June showing a hefty 272,000 jump in US non-farm payrolls during the month of May was also supporting prices.

For his part, UBS's Giovanni Staunovo noted the latest data on positioning, which had revealed a massive week-over-week decline in net long positions via oil futures and options among non-commercial accounts.

Dow Jones had him down as saying in a research note: "Net length now stands at just 50 million barrels, the lowest level since 2011, while short positioning stands close to record highs."

Next up, oil cartel OPEC was scheduled to release its next monthly oil market report the next day.

Top performing sectors so far today

Oil, Gas and Coal 9,033.48 +1.18%

Industrial Transportation 4,187.78 +1.11%

Aerospace and Defence 11,567.74 +0.87%

Industrial Metals & Mining 6,892.12 +0.47%

Gas, Water & Multiutilities 5,574.96 +0.23%

Bottom performing sectors so far today

Leisure Goods 24,383.63 -2.35%

Beverages 21,114.67 -2.11%

Non-life Insurance 3,639.67 -1.87%

Automobiles & Parts 1,140.92 -1.54%

Retailers 3,871.66 -1.47%