Investors are closely watching the action in oil services names after the US government issued its first deepwater drilling permit since the BP catastrophe.

Contrary to what you might expect shares of some big drillers including Ensco, Diamond Offshore and Noble, the company that won the permit, all fell on Tuesday.

“It's a step in the right direction, but it's a very small step," says independent trading consultant John Troland in a Reuters interview. "A lot of harm has been done."