Stock Market Update

[BRIEFING.COM] The major averages continue to face some choppy early action, once again trading mostly higher. 

The energy sector (+1.8%) now holds the widest gain by a considerable margin. The sector is supported by a rising price of oil, as WTI crude rises $2.83, or 3.4%, to $86.28 per barrel. Oil fell toward its overnight low (81.79) after the IEA confirmed that its 32 member states will release 400 million barrels from their strategic reserves, but that drop has been reversed entirely, with the price holding steady after the latest weekly inventory report from the EIA showed a 3.82 million barrel build against expectations for a smaller increase.

Elsewhere in the sector, Bloomberg reports that Shell plc (SHEL 86.54, +1.43, +1.68%) and other suppliers are declaring force majeure on LNG contracts.