Peabody, Arch, Alpha: Coal Stock Losers

Coal stocks across the board have sunk into the red Friday afternoon, along with the rest of the energy sector.

By Andrea Tse , Mar 19, 2010 3:58 PM EDT

NEW YORK (

) -- Coal stocks across the board have sunk into the red Friday afternoon, along with the rest of the energy sector.

"The entire energy sector is down today," Morningstar analyst Michael Tian said. "So that's pretty much the primary reason

for the losses. It's not just coal companies. It's also gas and oil. They're all down today." A recent natural gas inventory report may have contributed to the drop.

The Energy Information Administration released a report Mar. 18 showing that natural gas inventory in underground storage fell by a less-than-expected 11 billion cubic feet to roughly 1.6 trillion cubic feet for the week ended March 12. Analysts expected a reduction of 30 billion cubic feet, according to

Bloomberg.

Alpha Natural Resources

(ANR)

has fallen 4.1% to $48.10 Friday afternoon, while

Arch Coal

(ACI) - Get Report

has lost 2.6% to $24.

Meanwhile,

International Coal

(ICO)

has fallen 2.6% to $4.50, while

Peabody