Thursday’s Biggest Winners and Losers in the S&P 500
March 16, 2017: The S&P 500 closed lower on the day, down 0.17% and 4.01 points to 2,381.26. Separately the DJIA closed down 0.09% on the day at 20,932.16, down approximately 17.94 points. The health care, utilities, and oil &…
This post may contain links from our sponsors and affiliates, and Flywheel Publishing may receive compensation for actions taken through them.
[cnxvideo id=”506322″ placement=”ros”]March 16, 2017: The S&P 500 closed lower on the day, down 0.17% and 4.01 points to 2,381.26. Separately the DJIA closed down 0.09% on the day at 20,932.16, down approximately 17.94 points. The health care, utilities, and oil & gas stocks acted as kryptonite to an otherwise flat market. On the other hand, the financial sector was relatively strong, continuing to ride higher on the Fed’s coattails. The only other standout industries were grocery stores and textiles, although there were some bright stocks scattered around with no clear pattern. It seems that companies are still trying to figure out how this post rate-hike world will look—uncertain for now.
Crude oil just can’t make up its mind after having a spectacular Wednesday. We saw crude close ever so slightly lower on Thursday at $48.83.
Gold has continued to push above the $1,200 level, perhaps with some help from the Fed and international markets. This commodity rose 2.1% or $25.20, closing at $1,225.90.
[nativounit]
As we have said before, the main industries that showed weakness in the index were healthcare, oil & gas, and utilities. Obviously, the Fed announcement could play into the drop in utilities and oil & gas, providing more competition for their dividends. While major health care stocks traded lower after proposals from President Trump’s budget showed higher regulatory costs for the sector.
Financial stocks were positive following the Fed announcement and with rates continuing up major banks stand to make a lot more money. Grocery stores and textiles rounded out a couple of the other positive industries in the Index.
The S&P 500 stock posting the largest daily percentage loss ahead of the close Thursday was Biogen Inc. (NASDAQ: BIIB) which traded down 4.6% at $279.08. The stock’s 52-week range is $223.02 to $333.65. Volume was 3.4 million versus the daily average of 1.6 million shares.
The stock posting the largest daily percentage gain in the S&P 500 ahead of the close Thursday was Oracle Corp. (NYSE: ORCL) which jumped 6.5% to $45.83. The stock’s 52-week range is $37.62 to $46.99. Volume was 60.1 million which is way above the daily average of around 12.0 million shares.
[wallst_email_signup]
Contact [email protected] for any questions or corrections.
Chris Lange is a financial and geopolitical writer with more than a decade of experience covering a myriad of topics. He has published thousands of articles for 24/7 Wall St., with past coverage focused heavily on stocks, IPOs, healthcare, defense, global affairs, and technology.
His work has been quoted, or referenced by a number of outlets including Business Insider, USA Today, Yahoo Finance, MSN, The Motley Fool, and many other publications. A graduate of Southwestern University, he studied business with a focus on investments and has previous experience in banking and startups.
When not reading or writing the news, he is following his passion for Lacrosse, playing chess, or building solar projects with his dad.
