Afternoon Market Update

Oil and gas stocks moved higher along with broad equities market. The NYSE Arca Oil Index (XOI) rose about 1.04%, with Chevron Corp (CVX) as the top gainer in the list. The NYSE Arca Natural Gas Index (XNG) gained about 1.2%, while the Philadelphia Oil Service Sector Index (OSX) surged about 2.1%. US retail stocks rose after Tiffany & Co TIF and Guess? Inc GES both reported upbeat quarterly results and lifted their annual projections. Shares of Nordstrom Inc JWN and Saks Inc SKS also gained more than 2%. Gold futures declined after US inflation data. According to the Commerce Department, year-over-year core inflation in October increased a record low of 0.9%. Gold for December delivery dropped 0.40% to $1,372 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX). Read more from Benzinga's Markets.