Monday’s markets were dominated by little real economic news, but the trend was sharply lower. It turns out that only two of the thirty Dow Jones Industrial Average stocks were up in the final minutes before the market’s 4:00 p.m. Eastern Time closing bell.
Monday’s unofficial closing prices were down 20.58 points for the S&P 500 to 2,078.62, and down 178.91 to 17,731.42 for the Dow Jones Industrial Average. Even the NASDAQ was down 51.82 to 5,095.30. A recovery was seen in Treasury prices due to equities selling pressure, and the 10-year Treasury Note yield was last up less than 1 basis point at 2.34% despite having been at 2.37% early on Monday morning.
There were actually several things to blame here. It was overseas weakness, investors deciding that profit taking might be prudent, and a realization that the Federal Reserve’s chances of raising interest rates going up might not be great after all.
A day where only two Dow stocks were higher going into the final hour of the day doesn’t sound very good. 24/7 Wall St. has decided to highlight (or maybe call out) the five stocks that were the worst performing Dow stocks or which were dragging down the price-weighted Dow index the most.
The Boeing Co. (NYSE: BA) was suffering as the latest air show trends may be all about fighter jets and bombing jets rather than about new commercial airplane orders. Boeing shares were down 1.1%, or -1.64, at $146.30 right before the close. That made Boeing on of the biggest point decline for the Dow due to its share price being so high. Boeing’s $145.98 unofficial close is against a 52-week range of $115.14 to $158.83 and against a consensus analyst price target of $162.83.
Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE: CAT) was another drag, yet again. If weakness persists in China and Brazil, it just is going to be hard for Caterpillar to win. Ditto for commodity prices, because giant machinery to dig up the earth and to haul things around just isn’t needed to be bought. Caterpillar was down 2.4%, or -$1.82, at $72.02 right before the 4:00 p.m. close. Caterpillar’s 52-week range of $62.99 to $107.12 and consensus price target of $70.48 do not feel that comforting here.
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Exxon Mobil Corp. (NYSE: XOM) was slightly worse in percentage terms than rival Chevron. The cause here is a lower trend in oil prices with oil under $44.00 now. JPMorgan’s higher 2016 forecast just is not enough to drive oil giants higher. Exxon shares were seen down 1.86%, or -$1.57, at $82.12 right before the close. Exxon Mobil has a 52-week range of $66.55 to $97.20.
The Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (NYSE: GS) was down 1.2%, or -$2.25, at $196.82 right before the closing bell. That may not sound like much, but the price-weight characteristic of the daily Dow trends makes this the most important mover considering that Goldman Sachs has the highest stock price of all thirty Dow stocks. There was no real specific news here, just down with the broader market. Goldman Sachs has a consensus analyst target price of $208.71 and a 52-week range of $167.49 to $218.77.
International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE: IBM) seems to drift lower whether the broad trend is flat or down. IBM shares were down 2.1%, or down $2.91, at $135.34 right before the closing bell. Blame whatever you want for IBM’s drop, but it is nearing that $125 price target from Credit Suisse now. IBM’s drop of 2.1% was even worse at one point and IBM hit a 52-week low of $134.88 on Monday. The consensus analyst price target is down to $149.14 — and that may drift even lower until something changes inside IBM.
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