March 1, 2018: The S&P 500 closed down 1.3% at 2,677.35. The DJIA closed down 1.7% at 24,605.13. Separately, the Nasdaq was down 1.3% at 7,180.56.
Thursday was a very down day for the broad U.S. markets with all three of the major indexes closing significantly lower on the day. The Dow took the worst of the punishment with losses over 400 points, but at one point it was as bad as 500 points. Most of this sell-off came following the afternoon announcement of tariffs on steel and aluminum. Crude oil was again negative in the session, inching closer to $60. The S&P 500 sectors were almost entirely negative. The most positive sector was utilities which was roughly flat on the day. The worst performing sectors were industrials, financials, and technology down 1.9%, 1.8%, and 1.7%, respectively.
Crude oil was down 0.6% at $61.30.
Gold was up 0.3% at $1,321.50.
The S&P 500 stock posting the largest daily percentage loss ahead of the close Thursday was Patterson Companies, Inc. (NASDAQ: PDCO) which traded down about 26% at $23.39. The stock’s 52-week range is $22.57 to $48.30. Volume was about 15 million compared to the daily average volume of 1.5 million.
The stock posting the largest daily percentage gain in the S&P 500 ahead of the close Thursday was NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE: NRG) which rose 4% to $26.95. The stock’s 52-week range is $14.52 to $29.78. Volume was 7.3 million compared to the daily average volume of 5.7 million.