Street Wire: BP Stock Surges Over 12%

BP's (BP) stock surged more than 13% at one point in midday Thursday trading to hit as much as $33.04 a share. The rally comes after a day after a massive sell-off that pushed BP shares to a level not seen since 1996. Shares ended the day at $32.78, up 12.26%.

BP said it was puzzled by a drop in its share price, which fell 16% Wednesday in trading on the NYSE. The stock dropped as low as $33, down from a 52-week high of $62.38. BP's market cap is now only $91 billion, or roughly half its value prior to the Gulf oil spill.

Earlier Thursday a Citigroup (C) analyst told clients that a BP bankruptcy looks unlikely, as the cash the company generates is more than adequate to cover costs related to the disaster.

There should also be more than enough cash for BP to reliably pay it's dividend, according to research by Citi analyst Mark Fletcher, but political pressure could force BP to skip its next distribution. By the analyst's reckoning, BP is generating about $20 billion a year over above its capital expenditures through 2014.