Oct. 21--Halliburton Co.'s better-than-expected quarterly financial results and mostly upbeat outlook for oil and gas industry, despite what it called "unprecedented volatility" in commodity markets, helped lift bruised oil services stocks Monday.

Shares rose for Halliburton, Schlumberger, Baker Hughes, Weatherford International and others amid a broader market rally also fueled by talk of a second stimulus package to boost the sagging U.S. economy.

The gains were good news for a sector that has seen stock prices for its biggest names plummet by more than 50 percent in recent months amid falling oil prices, a global economic slowdown and fears the situation will get worse before it gets better.

"I think investors are realizing that the sky is not falling for oil field services like Halliburton," said Brian Youngberg, industry analyst with Edward Jones in St. Louis.

"Yes, 2009 is going to be a little bit tougher, no question about it. But markets cycle. As investment drops off for a little bit, prices rebound and then investment picks back up," he said.

In trading Monday, Halliburton closed up 13.9 percent at $20.80; Schlumberger rose 11.5 percent to $55.74; Baker Hughes rose 13.9 percent to $38.80; BJ Services rose 4.48 percent to $13.52; Weatherford International rose 15.45 percent to $16.96; and Smith International rose 9.42 percent to $36.47

The rally came after Weatherford and Halliburton released third-quarter financial results that met or beat Wall Street expectations.

Houston-based Weatherford's net income for the quarter ended Sept. 30 rose to $370.6 million, or 53 cents per share, on revenue of $2.54 billion. Profit matched the average estimate of analysts polled by Thomson Reuters, and revenue topped analysts' $2.48 billion forecast.

Halliburton, with headquarters in Houston and Dubai, swung to a $21 million loss, or 2 cents per share, in the July-to-September quarter, from a gain of $727 million, or 83 cents a share, in the same period a year ago.

The drop was largely due to a $693 million non-tax deductible loss on a debt repayment. Other non-recurring events contributing included $33 million in losses related to hurricanes Gustav and Ike in the Gulf of Mexico and a charge related to an acquisition.

Excluding those items, Halliburton had profits of $687 million, or 76 cents a share, ahead of the 73 cents a share analysts had predicted.

Revenue rose 24 percent to $4.9 billion, also ahead of analyst targets, after the company posted gains in all of its business segments.