03:30 PM EST, 03/07/2024 (MT Newswires) -- Energy stocks rose late Thursday afternoon with the NYSE Energy Sector Index up 0.7% and the Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLE) adding 0.8%.

The Philadelphia Oil Service Sector index jumped 1.7%, and the Dow Jones US Utilities index advanced 0.8%.

West Texas Intermediate crude oil fell 0.4% to $78.83 a barrel while the global benchmark Brent crude contract shed 0.2% to $82.78 a barrel.

US natural gas stocks fell by 40 billion cubic feet in the week ended March 1, a larger drop than the 36 billion decrease expected in a survey compiled by Bloomberg as of 7:40 am ET and following a decrease of 96 billion cubic feet in the previous week.

Henry Hub natural gas futures dropped 6.8% to $1.80 per 1 million BTU.

In corporate news, YPF (YPF) shares slumped past 2% after the company said overnight it swung to a Q4 loss and posted lower quarterly revenue.