Oil Services Equipment ETFs Gaining Momentum

Oil and gas services-related exchange traded funds were leading the energy sector rally Tuesday, with Transocean (NYSE: RIG) shares surging, as a weak dollar and a Kuwait strike prop up crude oil prices.

On Tuesday, the SPDR Oil & Gas Equipment & Services ETF (NYSEArca: XES) advanced 4.4%, Market Vectors Oil Service ETF (NYSEArca: OIH) gained 3.7% and PowerShares Dyanmic Oil and Gas Service ETF (NYSEArca: PXJ) rose 3.6%. The three oil & gas equipment & services related ETFs also broke above the resistance at their respective 200-day simple moving averages.

The oil services sector was rallying, with RIG jumping 10.1%. Transocean shares were strengthening on positive earnings revisions for the quarter and year.

Additionally, Diamond Offshore Drilling (NYSE: DO) also jumped 5.7% on Tuesday.

XES includes a 3.7% tilt toward DO and 3.2% in RIG. OIH holds 3.2% RIG and 2.0% DO. PXJ includes 2.6% RIG and 2.6% DO.

Meanwhile, the broader Energy Select Sector SPDR (NYSEArca: XLE) was up 1.6% Tuesday. XLE has a 16.8% weight in the energy equipment & services sub-sector.

The oil equipment and services industry is also beginning to outperform the broader energy sector. Over the past three months, XES was up 24.7%, OIH increased 23.0% and PXJ returned 24.7% while XLE was 19.7% higher.

The energy sector was among the better performing areas of the market Tuesday as a depreciating U.S. dollar and the ongoing Kuwait oil worker strike supported oil prices.