Morning Commentary: Energy names sink outright with lower oil prices; Clovis Oncology quiet, gains

By Rebecca Melvin

New York, June 20 – Energy names were in focus in the convertible bond space early Tuesday as a slide in oil prices took West Texas Intermediate crude oil for July delivery down about 2% to around $43.00 per barrel.

“It’s all oil today. With oil at 42 or 43, people are shifting their exposure, and either adding or reducing depending on what the PMs want to do,” a New York-based trader said, referring to portfolio managers.

Weatherford International plc was on a short list of energy names in focus. The Switzerland-based oil and gas equipment and services company’s 5.875% exchangeable senior notes due 2021 were quoted at 101.25 bid, 101.75 offered, which was down from 103 and change on Monday, and versus the underlying shares, which were off 13 cents, or 3.2%, at $3.95 on the day.

On April 28, the Weatherford exchangeable was trading at 119.5 to 121.5 with the underlying shares at $5.77.

Other energy convertibles in focus included those of Nabors Industries Ltd., Chesapeake Energy Corp. and SM Energy Co.

Elsewhere, Clovis Oncology Inc., which was the “nom du jour” on Monday after the company’s stock popped nearly 50% on positive trial data, moved up a little further in line with the underlying shares on Tuesday, but it traded only a few times.

The Clovis 2.5% convertibles due 2021 traded at 166.5, which was up 4.5 points on an outright basis from late Monday. Clovis shares were up another 2% at $89.82.

© 2015 Prospect News.
All content on this website is protected by copyright law in the U.S. and elsewhere. For the use of the person downloading only.
Redistribution and copying are prohibited by law without written permission in advance from Prospect News.
Redistribution or copying includes e-mailing, printing multiple copies or any other form of reproduction.