Breaking
3M Co.’s stock has been the biggest drag on the Dow in the first quarter of 2018
The Dow Jones Industrial Average on Thursday was on track to snap a quarterly win streak, and the biggest contributor the end of that successful run has been 3M Co. Shares of 3M Co. have fallen 6.4%, sapping 129 points from the price-weighted index over the course of the first three months of 2018, according to WSJ Market Data Group. Boeing Co.’ shares [: BA], meanwhile, the Dow’s most influential component among its 30, by dint of its share price, was the biggest contributor to 121-year-old average in the first quarter, adding more than 170 points. That said, it was the biggest drag in the Dow’s monthly performance, exacting a 290-point toll on the Dow, while shares of Merck & Co. provided the best lift for the month, 5 points. The Dow is set to decline 2% for the first three months of 2018, the S&P 500 index is set to fall 1% over the same stretch. Both benchmarks are on track to snap a streak of nine straight quarterly gains. For the month, the Dow is looking at a 3.3% drop in March, while the S&P 500 index is set to to fall 2.4%.