Natural gas stocks are under considerable selling pressure during late morning trading on Monday, contributing to the pullback by the broader markets. The weakness in the sector is partly due to negative comments from Morgan Stanley about Apache Corp. (APA) and Chesapeake Energy Corp. (CHK).
The weakness among natural gas stocks is reflected by the 2.4 percent loss currently being shown by the NYSE Arca Natural Gas Index. With the retreat, the index is pulling back further off the two-month high that it set last Thursday.
Apache Corp. and Chesapeake Energy are weighing on the sector after Morgan Stanley downgraded both stocks from Overweight to Equal Weight. The downgrade came as the broker expects the firms to be hurt by a downturn in natural gas prices.
Natural gas futures for April are down by 0.2 percent, currently trading at $4.393.
Apache Corp. is currently down by 3.9 percent, setting a three and a half week intraday low, while Chesapeake Energy is posting 2.7 percent loss, sinking to its worst price in nearly a month.
The sector is also being dragged lower by shares of Southwestern Energy Co. (SWN) and El Paso Corp. (EP), which are both down by 3.8 percent, offsetting recent gains.
Devon Energy Corp. (DVN), Ultra Petroleum Corp. (UPL) and Williams Companies Inc. (WMB) are also moving notably lower, further reflecting the weakness in the sector.
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June 05, 2026 16:18 ET A busy week for economic news flow saw a slew of reports being released that reflected the trends in the U.S. labor market. In Europe, economic growth and inflation data gained attention as the European Central Bank and Bank of England head for policy session later in the month. In Asia, the monetary policy session of the Indian central bank was in focus as the country, a major oil importer, reels under the pressures of a weaker rupee and rising inflation.