Union Pacific (UNP) and United Parcel Service (UPS) were among the biggest weekly falls among large-cap industrial stocks, as the broader market experienced its worst week of 2023.
The Industrial Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLI), whose holdings include the largest companies in the manufacturing sector, fell less than 1% to partially reverse two straight weeks of gains. That performance was slightly better than the fall of 1.1% for the Standard & Poor’s 500 stock index (SP500).
The Federal Reserve governors in speeches this week highlighted their continuing concerns about inflation and the possibility of more rate hikes.
Defense industry names rose as investors looked for stocks that tend to hold up better in times of economic uncertainty. Northrop Grumman (NOC), Lockheed Martin (LMT) and Raytheon Technologies (RTX) were the biggest gainers among large-cap industrials.
Deere (DE) also rose as investors await the company’s quarterly earnings report next week.