U.S. markets were down slightly Monday, with the S&P 500 and Dow Jones industrials each slipping about 0.1%, despite a roughly 3% jump in crude oil prices to about $43 a barrel, based on U.S. benchmark West Texas Intermediate.
The rebound in crude prices, which were largely lifted by renewed chatter that OPEC members are again considering production cuts, helped lift shares of Chesapeake Energy (CHK) , a member of Real Money's Stressed Out watch list, to the top of the S&P 500.
Chesapeake shares were up roughly 4% in midday trading, bringing gains on the year for the Oklahoma City-based oil and gas giant to about 13%. Meanwhile, industry peers Murphy Oil (MUR) and Marathon Oil (MRO) were also up about 4% in afternoon trading.
Shares of New York pharmaceutical company Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMY) were down about 5% after unveiling that a drug in trial stages for cancer treatment had failed its most recent tests, prompting analysts at Credit Suisse to cut Bristol-Myers' rating to Neutral from Outperform.
Jefferies analysts led by Jeffrey Holford also called the disappointing results for Bristol-Myers' Checkmate-026 therapy a "major blow" for the company, and noting it could spell a short-term win for Big Pharma peer Merck (MRK) , whose shares were up about 2% in midday trading.
Shares of Ono Pharmaceutical, Bristol-Myers' Japanese partner in the development of Checkmate, also fell by as much as 20% in Japanese markets.
"While we are disappointed CheckMate-026 did not meet its primary endpoint in this broad, treatment-naïve patient population, we remain committed to improving patient outcomes through our comprehensive development program," Bristol-Myers Squibb CEO Giovanni Caforio said in a statement.
