Storm stills junk but energy rise rolls on; Rite Aid recovers; funds gain $186 million

By Paul Deckelman and Paul A. Harris

New York, Jan. 4 – A monster winter “bomb cyclone” storm wrapped much of the eastern part of the United States in a in a cold white blanket on Thursday, stilling junk market activity in New York and other major business centers.

But the energy sector remained red hot, fueled by a continued rise in crude oil prices to levels not seen since at least early 2015. That in turn pushed up oil and natural gas sector benchmark California Resources Corp., as well as peers such as EP Energy Corp., MEG Energy Corp., Denbury Resources Inc. and \drillers Noble Holding International Ltd and Ensco plc.

Away from the energy realm, Rite Aid Corp. – whose bonds fell on Wednesday after the retailer released quarterly numbers that fell short of analysts’ expectations – was on the rebound.

Other sector names also seen better included J.C. Penney Co. Inc. and PetSmart Inc.

The primary market meantime remained quiet, surprising some onlookers who had expected a quicker start to 2018’s new issuance.

Statistical market performance measures were meantime higher across the board for a fourth consecutive session on Thursday.

Another numerical indicator – flows of investor cash into or out of high-yield mutual funds and exchange-traded funds – moved to the plus side as $186 million came into those weekly-reporting-only domestic funds during the week ended Wednesday.

© 2015 Prospect News.
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