It sure gets your attention when the Dow Jones Industrial Average drops 1,000 points. But it helps, too, to know which stocks and sectors are to blame.
All 30 Dow stocks dropped Thursday following a 1063.09 plunge in the market average. The average stock dropped 3.3%. And yet, technology and consumer discretionary stocks contributed more than their share of losses. Half the worst losers on the day are tech giants.
Salesforce and Apple were the biggest decliners on a percentage basis. Apple fell 6.5% and Salesforce 7.5%. Both are technology blue chips, although they didn't behave that way on Thursday. But in terms of the largest drops in Dow points, that goes to Home Depot. The home improvement supply retailer plunged 5.5%. But given that it's a 298-a-share stock, and the Dow is price weighted, that knocked the Dow down 113 points.
Also, Microsoft wasn't a very top loser on a percentage basis: losing 5.2%. But its per-share price of 274.94 means that drop took 99 points off the Dow.
All told, such massive losses added up fast. Investors lost $1.7 trillion in just one day, says Wilshire Associates. That's the most money lost in a trading day since June 11, 2020.
What Held Up Best In The Dow Jones
Not a single stock in the Dow Jones escaped the selling. But health care giant Merck was the least hit: dropping just 0.7 % or 4 Dow points. And energy continues to be a pillar of strength in the Dow Jones. Chevron lost just 0.9% or 9.5 Dow points.
And another durable play? Warren Buffett favorite Coca-Cola. The beverage maker's shares lost just 1%, or 4.4 Dow points.
Ugly day for the Dow Jones? Yes. But not all stocks are suffering equally.
Worst Percentage Drops In The Dow On May 5
| Company | Symbol | Day % ch. | Sector | Dow points lost |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Salesforce | -7.5% | Information Technology | 91.5 | |
| Apple | -6.5% | Information Technology | 71.2 | |
| Nike | -6.2% | Consumer Discretionary | 51.7 | |
| Home Depot | -5.5% | Consumer Discretionary | 113.4 | |
| Microsoft | -5.2% | Information Technology | 99.1 | |
| Intel | -4.8% | Information Technology | 14.7 | |
| Cisco Systems | -4.6% | Information Technology | 15.7 | |
| Visa | -4.5% | Information Technology | 63.6 | |
| Honeywell International | -4.4% | Industrials | 59.3 | |
| Boeing | -4.3% | Industrials | 44.5 |
