ST. LOUIS — It's a familiar story, as St. Louis public company stocks performed much worse than the broader national stock markets in the first half of 2020.
St. Louis company stocks fell 28.6% through June 30, compared with declines of 9.8% in the Dow and 3.6% in the S&P 500. The Nasdaq posted a strong gain of 13.2%
The reasons for the dramatic divergence in St. Louis stock performance and the national indices are the disproportionally high percentage of economically sensitive industries here, such as coal companies, and relatively few software and technology public companies.
"Many software and technology are hitting all-time highs as the disruption from the shutdown appears manageable and long-term investors expect accelerated demand for their services as some of the effects of work from home, virtual meetings, etc. continue," said Joe Schulz, an analyst at Argent Capital Management, which compiles the equally weighted Argent St. Louis Stock Index.
"One way to see this is the difference between the Nasdaq and the Dow Jones indices. While the Nasdaq is up 13% year to date, the Dow is down almost 10%. The St. Louis index more closely resembles the companies in the Dow," Schulz said.
Peabody Energy (BTU), down 68.75%; Caleres (CAL), down 65.7%, with closed retail stores; and Arch Coal (ARCH), down 60.6% were the worst performers among the 34 companies that are based here or have a large presence here.
"Caleres remains hurt by the shutdown as many of their stores were or still are closed due to their non-essential designation," Schulz said. "Arch Coal and Peabody remained under-performers as both total energy demand suffered with offices, schools, and stores shut down as well as the shift from to natural gas and renewable power sources continues."
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