Dow Suffers Biggest One-Week Loss Since March
June 22 2018 - 4:37PM
Dow Jones News
By Riva Gold and Akane Otani
-- Crude oil rises after OPEC deal
-- Dow rises after eight straight losses
-- Biggest weekly outflows from EM equities since 2016
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose Friday but posted its
biggest one-week slide since March as escalating tariff tensions
drove investors out of companies they fear could suffer under
tighter trade conditions.
Stocks wobbled throughout the week, with shares of industrial
firms, agricultural companies and auto makers sliding as investors
feared global trading relations were becoming increasingly
fractured.
President Donald Trump asked his administration Monday to
identify an additional $200 billion of Chinese goods that would be
penalized with tariffs. He then threatened Friday to impose a 20%
tariff on European cars after the European Union began imposing
duties on U.S. products ranging from bourbon whiskey to
Harley-Davidson motorcycles.
The moves contributed to unease among investors, who worry that
such fractious approaches could hinder global growth at a time when
many already believe that economic momentum is fading.
The Dow industrials fell eight straight sessions through
Thursday -- notching its longest streak of declines in more than a
year. As investors broadly shed risk, investors withdrew the
biggest weekly amount from emerging-market equities, financials and
investment-grade bond funds since 2016, according to Bank of
America Merrill Lynch.
"We're starting to see some corporate impact to some of the
rhetoric coming out of Washington," said Barbara Reinhard, head of
asset allocation at Voya Investment Management. "Potentially
targeting the auto sector has a far greater economic impact than
anything that has been done so far."
The Dow industrials rose 119.19 points, or 0.5%, to 24580.89
Friday but slid 509.59 points, or 2%, for the week.
The S&P 500 added 5.12 points, or 0.2% to 2754.88 and fell
24.78 points, or 0.9% for the week, while the Nasdaq Composite
edged down 20.13 points, or 0.3%, to 7692.82 and lost 53.56 points,
or 0.7%, for the week.
Stocks got a boost Friday from energy shares, although they
weren't enough to offset broad declines throughout the week from
other sectors.
Dow component Chevron rose $2.51, or 2%, to $125.10 and Exxon
Mobil added $1.69, or 2.1%, to $81.38 after members of the
Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries agreed to a deal
to join other big producers in boosting oil production by about
600,000 barrels a day.
The move came as a relief to investors who had been expecting
the cartel to decide to boost output even further, sending U.S.
crude for August delivery up 4.6% to $68.58 a barrel -- its biggest
one-day percentage gain since 2016.
Industrial shares in the S&P 500 rose Friday but posted
weekly declines, with Caterpillar down $10.08, or 6.7%, to $139.94
for the week and Boeing losing $18.97, or 5.3%, to $338.91 over
five sessions.
Elsewhere, the Stoxx Europe 600 rose 1.1% but fell 1.1% for the
week, weighed down by shares of European auto makers.
Japan's Nikkei Stock Average fell 0.8% Friday and 1.5% for the
week, while the Shanghai Composite Index dropped 4.4%, its worst
week since February.
Write to Riva Gold at riva.gold@wsj.com and Akane Otani at
akane.otani@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
June 22, 2018 17:22 ET (21:22 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2018 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.