U.S. markets were up moderately in midday trading Wednesday as oil began to recover from its steep declines over the holiday weekend and into Tuesday.
Crude oil climbed nearly 2% in midday trading to about $47.40 a barrel, based on U.S. benchmark West Texas Intermediate, after falling about 6% over the past three days.
The S&P 500 and Dow Jones industrials were up about 0.3% in afternoon trading, as the Nasdaq climbed about 0.6%.
Shares of Southwestern Energy (SWN), a member of Real Money's Stressed Out watch list, climbed about 2.5% on increasing oil prices, as well as the completion of a public offering of 99 million shares, which raked in about $1.25 billion for the company to repay a portion of its $750 million term loan. Southwestern has been crippled by the sharp decline in crude prices, with shares falling more than 80% last year alone, but has managed to stage somewhat of a turnaround in the first half of 2016. A steep rebound in oil prices, peeking above $50 a barrel last month, has helped to boost shares 68% so far on the year.
Abbott Laboratories (ABT) shares were also up in midday trading by about 3%, following a sunny outlook in the global autoimmune disease diagnostic market by industry publication Research and Markets, which now projects the market to grow at an annual rate of 6.4% through 2020.
American Airlines (AAL) shares were trading down more than 4% following a Credit Suisse analyst downgrade, which cut its rating to Outperform on American Airlines and its price target to $28 from $47. The analyst, Julie Yates, cited disappointing expected sales growth in the third quarter throughout the industry, also cutting her rating on United Continental (UAL) to Underperform. United shares were also down about 4% in midday trading.
Meanwhile, Irving, Calif-based medical technology giant Edwards Lifesciences (EW) shares were up about 3% following the announcement that Leslie Heisz, an investment banking veteran with an extensive background at Lazard Freres and Salomon Brothers, has joined its board.
A previous version of this story incorrectly stated the amount Southwestern brought in its offering. The correct amount is $1.25 billion.
-- Written by James Passeri
