Chems plunge as US Dow Jones falls 3.10%

HOUSTON (ICIS)–Stocks of US-listed chemical companies fell sharply on Tuesday as the Dow Jones Industrial Average declined by 3.10%.

The index closed at 25,027.07, down 799.36 points. The S&P 500 closed at 2,700.06, down 90.31 points or 3.24%.

The Dow Jones US Chemicals Index closed at 598.31, down 21.43 points or 3.46%.

The decline broke what had been positive developments in the market.

On Wednesday, the index rose by 2.50% after comments from the chairman of the Federal Reserve, Jerome Powell, who said that interest rates are nearly at the point where they are neither stimulating or slowing the economy.

The index rose by 1.13% on Monday, following news that the US and China would abstain from imposing tariffs on each other’s imports.

For the past year, the US stock market has been troubled by worries about trade disputes and rising interest rates. The trade truce and Powell’s comments would seem to allay such concerns.

However, the financial media warned about yield curve inversions, which can presage future recessions.

Doubts arouse about the truce between the US and China and whether the two countries can address each other’s grievances.

These warnings come on top of declining automobile and new-home sales as well as signs of slower growth around the world.

On Tuesday, every US-listed stock followed by ICIS fell, with some falling by at least 5%.

Although Tuesday was a rough day for stocks, it was by no means the worst for 2018.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell by 3.15% on 10 October and by 4.15% on 8 February.

On 5 February, the index fell by more than 6% during the day before closing at 24,345.75, down 1,175.21 points.

The following table lists Tuesday’s performance of the stocks followed by ICIS.

Name	$ Current Price	$ Change	% Change
Phillips 66	91.45	-0.64	-0.70
Ultrapar Participacoes SA ADR	12.13	-0.16	-1.26
Ecolab Inc	157.06	-2.46	-1.54
Westlake Chemical Partners LP	22.50	-0.36	-1.57
Sociedad Quimica Y Minera De Chile SA ADR	45.30	-0.81	-1.76
Marathon Petroleum Corp	63.44	-1.22	-1.89
RPM International Inc	64.12	-1.27	-1.94
Cosan Ltd	8.69	-0.18	-2.03
Ashland Global Holdings Inc	81.05	-1.74	-2.10
Nutrien Ltd	51.16	-1.12	-2.14
Linde PLC	160.82	-3.53	-2.15
Exxon Mobil Corp	79.45	-1.77	-2.18
Calumet Specialty Products Partners LP	3.09	-0.07	-2.22
Valero Energy Corp	79.47	-1.83	-2.25
Bunge Ltd	57.98	-1.35	-2.28
Occidental Petroleum Corp	69.63	-1.69	-2.37
Petroleo Brasileiro SA Petrobras ADR	14.68	-0.36	-2.39
Valvoline Inc	20.59	-0.55	-2.60
Enterprise Products Partners LP	26.30	-0.72	-2.66
Sherwin-Williams Co	406.75	-11.59	-2.77
DCP Midstream LP	34.44	-1.00	-2.82
FMC Corp	83.23	-2.43	-2.84
Braskem SA ADR repr Class A	27.23	-0.80	-2.85
CF Industries Holdings Inc	42.60	-1.26	-2.87
Alerian MLP ETF	9.56	-0.29	-2.94
NewMarket Corp	409.01	-12.49	-2.96
Methanex Corp	55.35	-1.87	-3.27
PPG Industries Inc	106.77	-3.79	-3.43
W R Grace & Co	62.23	-2.22	-3.44
Ecopetrol SA ADR	19.73	-0.73	-3.57
PBF Energy Inc Class A	35.09	-1.30	-3.57
Eastman Chemical Co	77.73	-3.22	-3.98
Cabot Corp	48.13	-2.00	-3.99
LyondellBasell Industries NV	90.56	-3.76	-3.99
The Mosaic Co	35.36	-1.51	-4.08
DowDuPont Inc	56.58	-2.58	-4.36
Axalta Coating Systems Ltd	24.54	-1.17	-4.53
Westlake Chemical Corp	70.41	-3.41	-4.62
Platform Specialty Products Corp	11.41	-0.58	-4.84
Huntsman Corp	19.57	-1.01	-4.91
Stepan Co	76.91	-4.21	-5.19
Venator Materials PLC	5.01	-0.28	-5.21
Trinseo SA	49.26	-2.78	-5.34
Albemarle Corp	93.13	-5.33	-5.41
Celanese Corp	96.07	-5.58	-5.49
Ingevity Corp	95.02	-5.58	-5.55
The Chemours Co	27.20	-1.65	-5.72
PQ Group Holdings Inc	14.69	-0.90	-5.77
PolyOne Corp	32.19	-2.02	-5.90
Olin Corp	20.47	-1.32	-6.06
Kronos Worldwide Inc	11.95	-0.85	-6.64
H.B. Fuller Co	44.65	-3.35	-6.98
Kraton Corp	24.39	-2.18	-8.20
Tronox Ltd	10.02	-0.90	-8.24
AdvanSix Inc	26.58	-2.44	-8.41

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