Shares of NOV Inc. shot up 5.9% in afternoon trading Friday, enough to pace the energy sector's and S&P 500's gainers, after Morgan Stanley analyst Connor Lynagh backed away from his bearish rating on the oil services company ahead of earnings. Lynagh said he was "closing out" his underweight rating on NOV, as he thinks concerns around inflation and margins are overshadowing major improvements in end markets and bottoming backlogs for equipment suppliers. Also providing a lift, crude oil futures rose 2.3%. NOV's rally comes as the SPDR Energy Select Sector ETF charged up 2.0% with all 22 components gaining ground, led by NOV, and as the S&P 500 gains 1.1%, also led by NOV.
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