Newfield Exploration Remains Firmly Positive After Initial Jump

(RTTNews) - After gapping open sharply higher, shares of Newfield Exploration Co. (NFX) continue to see significant strength in afternoon trading on Thursday. Newfield is currently up by 12.4 percent, climbing further off the nine-year closing low set on Monday.

The initial jump by Newfield came after Encana Corp. (ECA) agreed to acquire all outstanding shares of the oil and gas company's common stock in an all-stock transaction valued at approximately $5.5 billion.

Encana said the strategic combination will create a leading multi-basin company and has been unanimously approved by the Boards of Directors of both companies.