Why Renewable Energy Stocks Popped Today
Renewable energy stocks surged higher on Monday morning as the market gained ground to start earnings season. The earnings reports that came out from Goldman Sachs and Bank of America both showed better than expected results, and investors took them as reasons for optimism after the market's rout over the last few months.
Some of the biggest movers in energy were solar and hydrogen stocks, which tend to move more sharply than the broader market. As of 12:45 p.m. ET, Enphase Energy (NASDAQ: ENPH) was up as much as 9.5%, Plug Power (NASDAQ: PLUG) had jumped 10%, and Bloom Energy (NYSE: BE) peaked at 8.4%. Their shares are currently up 9.4%, 9.6%, and 8%, respectively.
The first thing to look at is oil prices. U.S. benchmark West Texas Intermediate crude was up 3.8% Monday to $101.34 per barrel. Oil prices have bounced around during the last few months, but have generally remained unusually high. If the U.S. economy is going to remain strong in the second half of the year, then maybe oil prices will remain elevated. Renewable energy sources compete with oil, natural gas, and gasoline, so rising commodity prices are generally good for the companies in that sector as they make renewable energy even more cost-competitive.
Source Fool.com
