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Oil futures rallied on Thursday after the U.S. Energy Information Administration reported that domestic crude supplies dropped by 14.5 million barrels in the week ended Sept. 2. A 425,000-barrel climb was expected by analysts polled by S&P Global Platts, while the American Petroleum Institute late Wednesday reported a decline of 12.1 million barrels. A recent hurricane in the Gulf of Mexico had caused a shut down of production in the region last week. Gasoline supplies fell 4.2 million barrels, while distillate stockpiles rose by 3.4 million barrels, according to the EIA. October crude rose $1.38, or 3%, from Wednesday’s settlement to $46.88 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Prices traded at $46.20 before the data.

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Shares of Nike Inc. took a nearly 2% slide after being downgraded to neutral from overweight at Piper Jaffray. Analysts at Piper Jaffray, led by Erinn Murphy, wrote in a note to clients the resurgence of Adidas has taken a toll on Nike’s growth rate in Germany, the U.K. and France. “Adidas’ strength is undisputed in the market with the brand eclipsing the growth rate of Nike for several athletic retailers since earlier this year,” Murphy wrote. “While we recognize that Adidas is not new news and we saw signposts to this trend back [in the spring], we believe Adidas’ strength has been accelerating.” Adidas footwear classics like the Superstar, Stan Smith and the Gazelle styles have been working well for the company. Murphy said increased competition is also coming from classic styles from New Balance and Adidas-owned Reebok, Under Armour and Puma , which is starting to make a comeback. “Bottom line, we believe these competitive pressures could weigh on Nike for the next 6-12 month period.” Shares of Nike are down more than 9% in the year to date, underperforming the S&P 500 Index , which is up nearly 7%.

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Apple Inc. says it will no longer release first-weekend pre-order sales data beginning with the iPhone 7, because it expects to run into supply issues, according to a statement. The company said it expects to sell out of the iPhone 7, given the fact that it is launching in more countries than usual over the first weekend and there is limited supply. “We are now at a point where we know before taking the first customer pre-order that we will sell out of iPhone 7,” the company said. “These initial sales will be governed by supply, not demand, and we have decided that it is no longer a representative metric for our investors and customers.” The company also reiterated its financial guidance for the September quarter. Shares of Apple fell 2.4% to $105.77 in morning trade. They’re down 6.9% in the past three months, versus a 2.6% increase for the Dow Jones Industrial Average .

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Analysts at Cowen and Co. started covering Tesla Motors Inc. stock, giving it their equivalent of a sell rating in a note to clients Thursday. There’s “execution risk” within the next year and a half, and the impending deal to buy SolarCity Corp. adds complexity at a time Tesla would do better focusing on its battery factory and the Model 3 launch, the analysts said in the note. They set a price target of $160 for Tesla, which represents a 16% downside from Thursday’s prices. According to FactSet, analysts covering Tesla average a price target of $243.53 on the stock and most rate it neutral.

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Natural-gas futures extended earlier gains on Thursday after the U.S. Energy Information Administration reported that supplies of the commodity rose 36 billion cubic feet for the week ended Sept. 2. That was below the average rise of 42 billion cubic feet expected by analysts polled by S&P Global Platts. Total stocks now stand at 3.437 trillion cubic feet, up 196 billion cubic feet from a year ago and 306 billion cubic feet above the five-year average, the government said. October natural gas rose 9.7 cents, or 3.6%, from Wednesday’s settlement to $2.773 per million British thermal units. It traded at $2.745 before the data.

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Discovery Communications Inc. said on Thursday it has reached a new long-term agreement with AT&T Inc. that will also expand its portfolio of networks across more platforms. The renewed deal will see Discovery’s content distributed to AT&T’s DirecTV U-Verse customers via set-top boxes, streaming and temporary download through DirecTV’s TV Everywhere, Discovery’s suite of websites and applications as well as AT&T’s direct-to-consumer streaming service, DirecTV Now, which is set to launch in the fourth quarter. Shares of Discovery are down more than 6% in the year to date, underperforming the S&P 500 Index , which is up nearly 7%. AT&T shares are up more than 20% in the year.

Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.

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U.S. stocks opened lower Thursday, after the European Central Bank kept key interest rates steady but disappointed investors who anticipated more stimulus measures. The news sparked a selloff in European equities and spread to the U.S., as risk appetite, fueled by the expectation of more stimulus by the ECB, diminished. On the U.S. economic front, weekly jobless claims showed that layoffs remained at historic lows, reflecting a tightening labor market. The S&P 500 shed 4 points, or 0.2%, to 2,181. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 55 points, or 0.3%, to 18,469. And the Nasdaq Composite fell 18 points, or 0.3%, to 5,266. On the corporate front, Apple Inc. shares fell 1.2% after the company on Wednesday unveiled its new iPhone and an updated Apple Watch.

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Barnes & Noble Inc. shares slid 3.8% premarket Thursday, after the company missed sales estimates for its first fiscal quarter. The bookstore chain said it had a net loss of $14.4 million, or 20 cents a share, in the quarter to end July, after a loss of $34.8 million, or 68 cents a share, in the year-earlier period. Excluding charges, it had a net loss from continuing operations of 7 cents a share, narrower than the FactSet consensus for a loss of 18 cents a share. Sales fell 6.6% to $913.9 million, below the FactSet consensus of $958 million. Same-store sales fell 6%, far more than the 0.4% drop FactSet analysts were expecting. “Given the softer than expected sales results to date, and the expected continuation of the challenging retail environment, the Company now expects fiscal 2017 comparable store sales to decline in the low single digits,” the company said in a statement. Shares have gained 42% in the year so far, while the S&P 500 has gained 7%. .

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From:: Stock Market News