The United States just reported a softer-than-expected inflation number for October and the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) sure is celebrating.
Most ASX investors' portfolios and watchlists are a flood of green today. What a nice change, right?
At the time of writing, the ASX 200 is up 2.53% and the S&P/ASX All Ordinaries Index (ASX: XAO) is up 2.58%.
So, why is the Santos Ltd (ASX: STO) share price struggling?
Santos shares are currently flat at $7.52 per share but have spent much of the day in the red.
Image source: Getty Images
Why is Santos underperforming?
We're possibly seeing a flow-on effect with the Santos share price today, following a major announcement on Tuesday.
Santos reduced its guidance for 2023 production and also revealed plans for a major restructure.
Santos will split its business into two divisions: Upstream Gas and Liquids and Santos Energy Solutions.
As reported by my Fool colleague Brooke, the Santos share price fell 5% on the day of the news. It hasn't recovered since.
The only news from Santos today is another in a series of daily share buyback notices.
Overnight, the price of natural gas fell by 2.02% to US$6.11 MMBtu. The price is down 9.65% over the past month, according to Trading Economics.
Fundie says Santos share price is a sell
Benjamin Goodwin of Merlon Capital writes on Livewire that it's time to cash in on ASX energy stocks.
His fund has taken profits on Santos shares as well as Woodside Energy Group Ltd (ASX: WDS) shares.
The fund has also sold down Ampol Ltd (ASX: ALD) and Viva Energy Group Ltd (ASX: VEA), as well as the ASX coal shares of New Hope Corporation Limited (ASX: NHC) and Whitehaven Coal Ltd (ASX: WHC).
Goodwin said:
Having previously identified and invested in the opportunities made available through prolonged underinvestment in traditional energy fuels and invested on the basis of the estimated risk/return trade-offs, we have been steadily reducing exposures as companies in this space have outperformed.
