Afternoon Market Update

Crude-oil futures moved higher after the Energy Information Administration depicted in-line rise in oil supplies. According to the EIA report, oil supplies increased 2 million barrels for the week ended October 29, in-line with the estimates. However, stockpiles of gasoline dropped 2.7 million barrels, versus expected rise of 1.1 million barrels. December crude oil surged about 1.2% to $84.89 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX). Gasoline for December delivery gained 1.4% to $2.14 a gallon. Shares of Hartford Financial Services Group Inc HIG surged about 8.1% after the company reported upbeat quarterly profit. The company's core earnings, excluding net realized investment gains and losses, came in at $1.43 per share, beating the analysts' expectations of $0.98 per share. US Airline stocks moved up, with AMR Corp AMR as the top gainer in the list. Shares of AMR gained about 4.9% after Standard & Poor's lifted the airline's credit rating outlook from “negative” to “stable” to reflect the improvement in operating performance. The NYSE Arca Airline (XAL) rose about 0.29%. Read more from Benzinga's Markets.