09:15 AM EDT, 08/08/2024 (MT Newswires) -- Energy stocks were advancing premarket Thursday, with the Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund ( XLE ) recently up 0.5%.

The United States Oil Fund ( USO ) was marginally lower, and the United States Natural Gas Fund ( UNG ) was down 1.2%.

Front-month US West Texas Intermediate crude was up 0.5% at $75.62 per barrel at the New York Mercantile Exchange. Global benchmark Brent gained 0.3% to $78.57 per barrel, and natural-gas futures were down 1.4% at $2.08 per 1 million BTU.

CenterPoint Energy ( CNP ) shares advanced 3.4% after it priced an offering of about 9.8 million shares at $25.63 each, targeting gross proceeds of roughly $250 million.

NRG Energy ( NRG ) shares were up 0.5% after it reported higher Q2 net income and revenue.