US chem shares plunge amid growing virus cases
Petrotahlil --US-listed shares of chemical companies fell sharply, as several states continue to report rising number of coronavirus cases and hospitalisations.
The table below shows the US-listed shares followed by ICIS.
$ Current
Price |
$ Change | % Change | |
AdvanSix | 10.94 | -0.57 | -4.95 |
Axalta Coating Systems | 21.44 | -0.8 | -3.6 |
Braskem | 8.96 | -0.7 | -7.25 |
Celanese | 82.96 | -2.91 | -3.39 |
Dow | 38.45 | -2.9 | -7.01 |
DuPont | 51.54 | -1.37 | -2.59 |
Eastman | 66.85 | -2.48 | -3.58 |
HB Fuller | 41.05 | -1.34 | -3.16 |
Huntsman | 17.57 | -0.72 | -3.94 |
Ingevity | 49.34 | -2.34 | -4.53 |
Kraton | 15.43 | -0.79 | -4.87 |
Kronos Worldwide | 9.39 | -0.18 | -1.88 |
LyondellBasell | 60.64 | -5.35 | -8.11 |
Methanex | 18.58 | -1.53 | -7.61 |
NewMarket | 388.11 | -9.57 | -2.41 |
Olin | 11.31 | -0.89 | -7.3 |
PolyOne | 23.8 | -0.9 | -3.64 |
PPG | 101.88 | -1.81 | -1.75 |
RPM International | 73.1 | -1.73 | -2.31 |
Sherwin-Williams | 566.65 | -9.68 | -1.68 |
Stepan | 90.54 | -1.38 | -1.5 |
Chemours | 15.05 | -0.5 | -3.22 |
Trinseo | 20.49 | -2.02 | -8.97 |
Tronox | 6.84 | -0.42 | -5.79 |
Univar | 16.49 | -0.65 | -3.79 |
Venator Materials | 1.81 | -0.23 | -11.27 |
Westlake Chemical | 52.57 | -2.09 | -3.82 |
Many of the stocks performed worse than the general market, as shown in the table below.
24-Jun | Change | % | |
Dow Jones Industrial Average | 25,445.94 | -710.16 | -2.72 |
S&P 500 | 3,050.33 | -80.96 | -2.59 |
Dow Jones US Chemicals Index | 569.42 | -19.51 | -3.31 |
S&P 500 Chemicals Industry Index | 573.67 | -18.94 | -3.20 |
The declines in the stock market took place as some states in the US continued to report rising cases of the coronavirus.
CNBC reported that the Florida Department of Health reported another record increase in cases.
Reuters reported that California reported a record increase of more than 6,000 new cases on Monday.
The Associated Press reported that Arizona, California, Mississippi, Nevada, Texas and Oklahoma reported single-day records this week.
The number of cases in the US rose by 34,313 on Wednesday from Tuesday, reaching a total of nearly 2.34m, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Fatalities rose by 784 to reach a total of 121,117.
The concern is that hospitals could become overwhelmed with new cases, forcing governments to re-impose restrictions on travel and work.
The result would cause demand for chemicals and other commodities to fall.
Oil futures also fell, as shown in the following table.
24-Jun | 23-Jun | % | |
Brent | 40.31 | 42.63 | -5.44% |
WTI | 38.01 | 40.37 | -5.85% |
In the US, Dow expects to take an additional $350m hit to its second quarter earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA), mostly because of a slow recovery in consumer durables and other big-ticket items.
The additional hit is based on the current consensus earnings estimate, said Howard Ungerleider, Dow's chief financial officer. He made his comments during the Virtual 2020 BMO Chemicals & Packaging Conference, hosted by BMO Capital Markets.
By ICIS
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