US chem shares lessen losses after Trump speech excludes China trade
Al Greenwood
29-May-2020
HOUSTON (ICIS)–US-listed shares of chemical companies rose off of their lows on Friday after a speech by US President Donald Trump made no mention of tariffs or the country’s phase-one trade deal with China – even though he criticised other aspects of Chinese policy.
General stock markets also recovered from their earlier lows following the president’s speech.
The table below shows the indices followed by ICIS.
| 29-May | Change | % | |
| Dow Jones Industrial Average | 25,383.11 | -17.53 | -0.07 |
| S&P 500 | 3,044.31 | 14.58 | 0.48 |
| Dow Jones US Chemicals Index | 581.51 | 1.46 | 0.25 |
| S&P 500 Chemicals Industry Index | 587.07 | 2.16 | 0.37 |
The table below shows the US-listed chemical stocks followed by ICIS. While they rose from their lows from the day, most chemical shares still posted losses.
|
$ Current
Price | $ Change | % Change | |
| AdvanSix | 11.85 | -0.38 | -3.11 |
| Axalta Coating Systems | 23.18 | -0.15 | -0.62 |
| Braskem | 10.36 | -0.44 | -4.07 |
| Celanese | 90.13 | -2.21 | -2.39 |
| Dow | 38.67 | -0.05 | -0.12 |
| DuPont | 50.66 | 0.16 | 0.32 |
| Eastman | 67.99 | -0.47 | -0.68 |
| HB Fuller | 37.72 | -0.79 | -2.05 |
| Huntsman | 18.16 | -0.04 | -0.19 |
| Ingevity | 52.56 | -0.98 | -1.83 |
| Kraton | 15.21 | -0.76 | -4.76 |
| Kronos Worldwide | 9.79 | -0.22 | -2.2 |
| LyondellBasell | 63.71 | -0.69 | -1.07 |
| Methanex | 16.11 | -0.92 | -5.4 |
| NewMarket | 433.26 | -3.7 | -0.85 |
| Olin | 12.05 | 0.09 | 0.71 |
| PolyOne | 24.85 | 0.1 | 0.4 |
| PPG | 102.04 | -0.6 | -0.58 |
| RPM International | 74.78 | 0.53 | 0.71 |
| Sherwin-Williams | 594.35 | 4.34 | 0.74 |
| Stepan | 97.35 | -1.79 | -1.81 |
| Chemours | 13.13 | -0.47 | -3.46 |
| Trinseo | 20.6 | -0.03 | -0.15 |
| Tronox | 6.67 | -0.44 | -6.13 |
| Univar | 15.42 | -0.05 | -0.32 |
| Venator Materials | 1.33 | -0.12 | -8.28 |
| Westlake Chemical | 47.71 | 0.01 | 0.01 |
While Trump did not discuss tariffs or trade deals, he did bring up earlier trade grievances. He also accused China of covering up the spread of the coronavirus.
Regarding Hong Kong, the US will follow up on its declaration of the city no longer being sufficiently autonomous from China to warrant special treatment, Trump said. Those provisions included an extradition treaty, export controls, dual-use technologies and more.
In US markets, oil prices rose, as shown in the following table.
| 28-May | 27-May | % | |
| Brent | 35.33 | 35.29 | 0.11 |
| WTI | 35.49 | 33.71 | 5.28 |
INEOS Styrolution is seeking June increases for polystyrene (PS) prices.
US June benzene contract prices rose slightly.
In Europe, chemical stock prices fell.
Asian chemical shares also fell.
Visit the ICIS coronavirus topic page for analysis of the impact on chemical markets and links to latest news.
Click here to view related stories and content on the ICIS US-China trade war topic page.
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