US chem shares fall despite rise in oil, stock markets

HOUSTON (ICIS)–Most US-listed shares of chemical companies fell on Monday even though the general stock market and oil futures rose.

The table below shows the major indices followed by ICIS.

	4-May	Change	%
Dow Jones Industrial Average	23,749.76	26.07	0.11
S&P 500	2,842.74	12.03	0.43
Dow Jones US Chemicals Index	519.55	0.37	0.071
S&P 500 Chemicals Industry Index	524.89	0.63	0.12

The table below shows oil prices.

	4-May	1-May	%
Brent	27.2	26.44	2.87
WTI	20.39	19.78	3.08

The rallies in both oil and stock markets contrasted against declines in most of the US-listed shares followed by ICIS, as shown below.

	$ Current Price	$ Change	% Change
AdvanSix	11.50	-0.77	-6.28
Axalta Coating Systems	19.14	0.27	1.40
Braskem	7.69	-0.09	-1.09
Celanese	77.71	-1.60	-2.02
Dow	33.07	-0.87	-2.55
DuPont	44.62	-0.46	-1.01
Eastman	60.57	0.55	0.92
HB Fuller	34.72	-0.85	-2.39
Huntsman	15.18	-0.83	-5.16
Ingevity	47.65	-0.23	-0.48
Kraton	14.43	0.53	3.81
Kronos Worldwide	8.94	-0.28	-2.99
LyondellBasell	54.35	-0.81	-1.47
Methanex	14.45	-0.94	-6.08
NewMarket	413.49	2.97	0.72
Olin	11.97	-0.29	-2.33
PolyOne	21.99	-0.27	-1.21
PPG	86.88	-1.12	-1.27
RPM International	64.82	0.74	1.15
Sherwin-Williams	528.79	2.35	0.45
Stepan	91.11	-2.57	-2.74
Chemours	10.92	-0.02	-0.14
Trinseo	18.05	-0.83	-4.40
Tronox	6.36	-0.10	-1.55
Univar	13.49	0.03	0.19
Venator Materials	1.20	-0.02	-1.64
Westlake Chemical	41.46	1.08	2.66

Westlake shares were among the biggest winners. The polyolefins and vinyls producer had earlier reported a rise in Q1 earnings because of tax benefits.

In US chemical markets, May contracts for cyclohexane (CX) fell after prices for feedstock benzene reached a 19-year low.

In Europe, chemicals stocks declines.

Cracker margins fell in line with monomer settlements at significant decreases, coupled with feedstock prices edging up.

The composite Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) in the eurozone falling to 33.4 points due to lockdown measures, with Spain and Italy particularly affected.

A reading below 50.0 points shows contraction.

In Asia, petrochemical shares and oil prices fell on renewed trade tensions between the US and China, with poor April manufacturing data across the region also weighing on investor sentiment.

US White House economic advisor Larry Kudlow late on Sunday said the China would be “held accountable” for the coronavirus outbreak.

Kudlow’s comments came a day after Trump said he suspected the virus came from a laboratory in the Chinese central city of Wuhan without offering any evidence and hinted at imposing further tariffs on China.

“US President Donald Trump is said to be exploring blocking a government retirement fund from investing in Chinese equities seen as a national security risk and is also considering new tariffs on China as reparations for the coronavirus pandemic,” Singapore-based UOB Global Economics & Markets Research said.

Additional reporting by Morgan Condon and Nurluqman Suratman

Visit the ICIS coronavirus topic page for analysis of the impact on chemical markets and links to latest news.