Short interest data for the November 28 settlement date has been released. Most of the top oil stocks, except for Exxon, saw their short interest fall in this period. Whether this has remained in place during the most recent weakness is unknown. It is important to know that, using the trade dates ahead of the settlement date, West Texas Intermediate crude was still in the mid-$70s. It was after the close of trading on November 28 that crude fell from $73 to $66. As of December 10, crude oil was trading closer to $62, but these short interest readings do not include the days that oil has tanked since.
24/7 Wall St. has added color on each and included a trading range for comparison. There is an obvious trend here, and that is that lower oil prices will weigh on the earnings of oil giants, but this settlement date may be showing some optimism.
BP PLC (NYSE: BP) saw its short interest fall to 7.86 million shares, with one day to cover. The previous level was 8.6 million. The average number of American depositary shares traded daily during this time was 5.81 million. Shares of BP were down 2% at $37.76 in the first hour of trading Wednesday. BP has a 52-week trading range of $37.75 to $53.48 in New York trading.
ALSO READ: What Does Falling Short Interest Mean for the Semiconductor Industry?
Chevron Corp. (NYSE: CVX) saw its short interest drop to 15.78 million shares, with two days to cover, compared to the previous level of 16.4 million. During this time, the average number of shares trading daily was 6.6 million. Shares were down 3% at $103.61 in the first hour of trading. Chevron has a 52-week trading range of $103.44 to $135.10.
ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP) saw its short interest decrease for the November 28 settlement date to 23.97 million, with three days to cover, versus the previous reading of 25.26 million. The average number of shares traded daily during this time was 7.3 million. Shares of ConocoPhillips were down 3% to $62.95 in the first hour of trading. The stock has a 52-week trading range of $62.74 to $87.09.
Exxon Mobil Corp. (NYSE: XOM) saw its short interest rise slightly to 42.9 million shares, with four days to cover, from the previous level of 42.3 million. The daily average volume during this time was 11.2 million. Shares of Exxon were down 2% at $89.25 in the first hour of trading. They have a 52-week trading range of $86.91 to $104.76.
Petroleo Brasileiro S.A. (NYSE: PBR), or Petrobras, saw its short interest fall to 85.7 million shares, with two days to cover. The previous level was 88.8 million shares. The company trades an average daily volume of roughly 51.1 million shares. Shares of Petrobras were down 3% at $7.91 in the first hour of trading. Petrobras has a 52-week trading range of $7.63 to $20.94.
Occidental Petroleum Corp. (NYSE: OXY) had its short interest decrease to 9.5 million shares, with two days to cover, from the previous level of 9.9 million. The average daily volume of shares during this time was 5.98 million. Shares of Occidental were down over 2% at $75.50 in the first hour of trading. Occidental’s stock has a 52-week trading range of $75.28 to $101.38.
Crude oil prices were down over 2% at $62.07 after the first hour of trading Wednesday morning.
ALSO READ: Short Sellers Stepping Back From 3D Printing Stocks
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