Transport stocks sink amid economy, tariff worries

Old Dominion Freight Line

21/02/2025 16:55

** The Dow Jones Transport average  .DJT  down 2.5% on Friday,
eying its third consecutive loss and its deepest daily decline
since December, with biggest losses from Old Dominion Freight
Line  ODFL.O  and Fedex Corp  FDX.N 
    ** Sell-off comes with signs of weak consumer sentiment,
business activity 
    ** U.S. business activity nearly stalled in February, as per
S&P Global, with fears over import tariffs, deep federal
government spending cuts, erasing gains after the November
election
    ** Also, U.S. consumer sentiment dropped more than expected
in February to a 15-month low, inflation expectations jumped as
households worried about plans for steep, broad-based tariffs,
as per University of Michigan Surveys
    ** "It's just some questions about the health of the economy
and concerns about things like tariffs having an impact," said
Robert Pavlik, senior portfolio manager at Dakota Wealth.
    ** The biggest decliner in the sector was trucking company
Old Dominion, tumbling 10.2% and eying its steepest one-day drop
since April 2024. Fedex fell ~6%, tracking for its biggest
one-day loss since Feb. 3
    ** Landstar Systems and JB Hunt Transport Services  JBHT.O .
were both down more than 2%
    ** Travel stocks also among biggest losers with car rental
co Avis  CAR.O  off almost 6% and Alaska Air  ALK.N  fell ~3% 
    ** The DJT, which didn't have a single stock advancing on
the day, was also underperforming the broader market with the
S&P 500  .SPX  down 0.6% in comparison

 (Reporting By Sinéad Carew, Nikhil Sharma)
 ((sinead.carew@thomsonreuters.com; +13322191897;))