By Philip van Doorn, MarketWatch

Bloomberg
After Thursday’s 724-point drubbing, the Dow Jones Industrial Average is now down 4.3% this month. The S&P 500 Index is up slightly so far in March.
The Dow is on pace for its worst March performance since 2001.
The worst performer this month among the 30 Dow Jones Industrial Average /zigman2/quotes/210598065/realtime DJIA -0.61% components is Boeing Co. /zigman2/quotes/208579720/composite BA -0.59% , down 11.9% for March, following a 5.3% decline Thursday. Boeing CEO Dennis Muilenburg was among 22 chief executives of Dow companies who criticized President Trump’s announcement of tariffs to be placed on up to $60 billion of products imported into the U.S. from China.
Aerospace is one of the industries that could be affected by retaliation in a potential trade war with China.
All 30 Dow components fell Thursday. Here’s how they have performed so far this month, from worst to best (excluding dividends):
Company | Ticker | Price change - March 22 | Price change- Feb. 28 through March 22 | Price change - 2018 through March 22 | Price change - 2017 |
Boeing Co. | /zigman2/quotes/208579720/composite BA | -5.3% | -11.9% | 8.2% | 89.4% |
United Technologies Corp. | -2.1% | -7.7% | -2.5% | 16.4% | |
DowDuPont Inc. | -2.6% | -6.6% | -7.8% | 24.5% | |
American Express Co. | /zigman2/quotes/203805826/composite AXP | -3.5% | -6.2% | -7.9% | 34.1% |
3M Co. | /zigman2/quotes/205029460/composite MMM | -4.8% | -5.3% | -5.3% | 31.8% |
General Electric Co. | /zigman2/quotes/208495069/composite GE | -3.7% | -5.3% | -23.4% | -44.8% |
Apple Inc. | /zigman2/quotes/202934861/composite AAPL | -1.4% | -5.2% | -0.2% | 46.1% |
Caterpillar Inc. | /zigman2/quotes/203434128/composite CAT | -5.8% | -5.1% | -6.9% | 69.9% |
JPMorgan Chase & Co. | /zigman2/quotes/205971034/composite JPM | -4.1% | -4.8% | 2.9% | 23.9% |
UnitedHealth Group Inc. | /zigman2/quotes/210453738/composite UNH | -3.3% | -4.7% | -2.2% | 37.8% |
Microsoft Corp. | /zigman2/quotes/207732364/composite MSFT | -2.8% | -4.2% | 5.1% | 37.7% |
Nike Inc. Class B | /zigman2/quotes/203439053/composite NKE | -3.0% | -3.9% | 2.9% | 23.1% |
Home Depot Inc. | /zigman2/quotes/208081807/composite HD | -1.5% | -3.8% | -7.5% | 41.4% |
Cisco Systems Inc. | /zigman2/quotes/209509471/composite CSCO | -2.8% | -3.8% | 12.5% | 26.7% |
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. | /zigman2/quotes/209237603/composite GS | -3.3% | -3.7% | -0.6% | 6.4% |
Walmart Inc. | /zigman2/quotes/207374728/composite WMT | -1.0% | -3.0% | -11.6% | 42.9% |
Exxon Mobil Corp. | /zigman2/quotes/204455864/composite XOM | -2.1% | -3.0% | -12.1% | -7.3% |
Procter & Gamble Co. | /zigman2/quotes/202894679/composite PG | -0.7% | -2.6% | -16.8% | 9.3% |
Walt Disney Co. | /zigman2/quotes/203410047/composite DIS | -1.3% | -2.5% | -6.5% | 3.2% |
International Business Machines Corp. | /zigman2/quotes/203856914/composite IBM | -2.9% | -2.4% | -0.9% | -7.6% |
Visa Inc. Class A | /zigman2/quotes/203660239/composite V | -2.6% | -2.3% | 5.3% | 46.1% |
Pfizer Inc. | /zigman2/quotes/202877789/composite PFE | -1.9% | -2.1% | -1.8% | 11.5% |
Verizon Communications Inc. | /zigman2/quotes/204980236/composite VZ | -0.9% | -1.9% | -11.5% | -0.8% |
Johnson & Johnson | /zigman2/quotes/201724570/composite JNJ | -2.8% | -1.8% | -8.7% | 21.3% |
Coca-Cola Co. | /zigman2/quotes/209159848/composite KO | -0.5% | -1.0% | -6.7% | 10.7% |
McDonald's Corp. | /zigman2/quotes/203508018/composite MCD | -1.1% | -0.5% | -8.8% | 41.4% |
Travelers Cos. | /zigman2/quotes/206313935/composite TRV | -2.0% | -0.5% | 1.9% | 10.8% |
Merck & Co. | /zigman2/quotes/209956077/composite MRK | -1.0% | -0.2% | -3.8% | -4.4% |
Chevron Corp. | /zigman2/quotes/205871374/composite CVX | -2.9% | 1.6% | -9.2% | 6.4% |
Intel Corp. | /zigman2/quotes/203649727/composite INTC | -1.3% | 3.3% | 10.3% | 27.3% |
Source: FactSet |
Among the Dow 30, only Chevron Corp. /zigman2/quotes/205871374/composite CVX -2.35% and Intel Corp. /zigman2/quotes/203649727/composite INTC -2.79% have seen their shares rise in March.
The broader market
All 11 sectors of the S&P 500 /zigman2/quotes/210599714/realtime SPX -1.11% were down except for utilities, which were up slightly. Here’s how the sectors of the S&P have performed in March, in ascending order and excluding dividends:
S&P 500 Sector | Price change - March 22 | Price change - Feb. 28 through March 22 | Price change - 2018 through March 22 | Price change - 2017 |
Financials | -3.7% | -4.1% | -1.0% | 20.0% |
Information Technology | -2.7% | -2.9% | 4.3% | 36.9% |
Consumer Discretionary | -2.1% | -1.6% | 3.6% | 21.2% |
Industrials | -3.3% | -3.4% | -2.6% | 18.5% |
Telecommunications | -1.4% | -2.5% | -10.0% | -6.0% |
Health Care | -2.9% | -3.0% | -1.5% | 20.0% |
Materials | -3.0% | -4.0% | -5.5% | 21.4% |
Real Estate | -0.4% | 1.7% | -7.3% | 7.2% |
Energy | -2.0% | 1.1% | -7.0% | -3.8% |
Consumer Staples | -0.8% | -3.5% | -9.8% | 10.5% |
Utilities | 0.4% | 1.8% | -5.6% | 8.3% |
Source: FactSet |
The worst S&P 500 performer on Thursday was AbbVie Inc. /zigman2/quotes/202428675/composite ABBV -0.37% , after disappointing trial results for a drug under development that the company paid $5.8 billion to acquire. And the footnotes of AbbVie’s announcement made the news look even worse for the company, not to mention its shareholders.
Here are the 10 S&P 500 companies with the worst price declines this month:
Company | Ticker | Industry | Price change - March 22 | Price change - Feb. 28 through March 22 | Price change - 2018 through March 22 | Price change - 2017 |
L Brands Inc. | Apparel/ Footwear Retail | -2.7% | -22.2% | -36.3% | -8.5% | |
Mattel Inc. | /zigman2/quotes/209819189/composite MAT | Recreational Products | 0.8% | -18.9% | -16.1% | -44.2% |
Cigna Corp. | /zigman2/quotes/208431372/composite CI | Managed Health Care | -1.0% | -15.6% | -18.6% | 52.3% |
AbbVie Inc. | /zigman2/quotes/202428675/composite ABBV | Pharmaceuticals: Major | -12.8% | -15.3% | 1.4% | 54.4% |
Qualcomm Inc. | /zigman2/quotes/206679220/composite QCOM | Telecommunications Equipment | -2.2% | -14.5% | -13.2% | -1.8% |
Kroger Co. | /zigman2/quotes/206215053/composite KR | Food Retail | -0.3% | -13.8% | -14.8% | -20.5% |
International Paper Co. | /zigman2/quotes/200533549/composite IP | Containers/ Packaging | -4.0% | -13.7% | -11.3% | 9.2% |
Discovery Communications Inc. Class C | Movies/ Entertainment | -3.0% | -13.5% | -6.1% | -20.9% | |
General Mills Inc. | /zigman2/quotes/206659526/composite GIS | Food: Major Diversified | -2.3% | -12.1% | -25.0% | -4.0% |
Boeing Co. | /zigman2/quotes/208579720/composite BA | Aerospace & Defense | -5.2% | -11.8% | 8.4% | 89.4% |
Source: FactSet |
Despite a decline of 2.7% for Facebook Inc. on Thursday, making for a 10.3% drop from a week earlier, the shares were down “only” 7.5% for March. The social-media company is fighting the biggest scandal of its life.
Read: What Facebook investors should take away from Mark Zuckerberg’s comments
Here are the 10 S&P 500 companies whose shares have risen the most so far in March:
Company | Ticker | Industry | Price change - March 22 | Price change - Feb. 28 through March 22 | Price change - 2018 through March 22 | Price change - 2017 |
XL Group Ltd | Multi-Line Insurance | -0.1% | 30.8% | 57.4% | -5.6% | |
Micron Technology Inc. | /zigman2/quotes/205710729/composite MU | Semiconductors | -3.5% | 20.7% | 43.3% | 87.6% |
Nektar Therapeutics | /zigman2/quotes/206715615/composite NKTR | Biotechnology | -2.7% | 20.2% | 74.2% | 386.7% |
NRG Energy Inc. | /zigman2/quotes/208308731/composite NRG | Electric Utilities | 0.4% | 17.2% | 6.4% | 132.3% |
Western Digital Corp. | /zigman2/quotes/204213617/composite WDC | Computer Peripherals | -2.0% | 15.8% | 26.8% | 17.0% |
Marathon Petroleum Corp. | /zigman2/quotes/209634297/composite MPC | Oil Refining/ Marketing | -0.3% | 13.9% | 10.6% | 31.0% |
Range Resources Corp. | /zigman2/quotes/205059849/composite RRC | Oil & Gas Production | -1.8% | 13.8% | -11.3% | -50.3% |
Baker Hughes, a GE Co. Class A | Oilfield Services/ Equipment | -3.8% | 12.8% | -5.9% | -51.3% | |
Andeavor | Oil Refining/ Marketing | -1.4% | 12.6% | -11.7% | 30.7% | |
Lam Research Corp. | /zigman2/quotes/208077897/composite LRCX | Electronic Production Equipment | -4.2% | 12.0% | 16.7% | 74.1% |
Source: FactSet |
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