Oil Finally Pulls Back

Meanwhile, energy stocks ended broadly lower. The CBOE oil index slid 1.5% to 654.31.

Chinese oil firm Sinopec marked the country's first integrated refining and petrochemicals joint venture with foreign participation, saying it will collaborate with Exxon Mobil (XOM Quote) and Saudi Aramco in a $5 billion refinery expansion project. An existing refinery at the site will be expanded from 80,000 barrels a day to 240,000 barrels a day of sour Arabian crude.

Shares of Exxon fell 1% to $75.45.

Among other names in the news, Chevron (CVX Quote) began to restart its San Francisco Bay refinery in Richmond, Calif. The refinery has been offline since early February for scheduled maintenance. A small fire occurred during the maintenance period, extending the time required for the refinery's overhaul. Shares of Chevron were 1.3% lower at $73.96.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission approved El Paso's (EP Quote) proposal to expand its Elba Island LNG facility near Savannah, Ga., saying that the project would have minimal impact on the environment. El Paso plans to increase natural gas storage at the facility to 15.7 billion cubic feet from 8.4 bcf, and also raise the plant's output to 2.1 bcf from 900 million cubic feet. The total expansion will cost El Paso $850 million.

El Paso slipped 1.2% to $14.47.

Friedman Billings upgraded shares of Pioneer Natural Resources (PXD Quote) to outperform from neutral and upped the stock's price target to $70 from $52.50. Pioneer finished up 3.3% at $43.12.

Newfield Exploration (NFX Quote) was upgraded by Keybanc Capital Markets to buy from hold. Shares of Newfield were fractionally lower at $41.71.