As S&P 500 recovers, most components remain in correction - or worse

By Noel Randewich

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - As a stock rebound on Thursday put the S&P 500 on track for its strongest three-day performance since 2016, a look at the recent performance of most of the index's components paints a different picture, illustrating signs of weakness in Wall Street's health.

Cooling fears that Trump is starting a trade war with China helped the S&P 500 rebound 0.8 percent on Thursday and 2.9 percent over the past three sessions. But the S&P 500's <.SPX> recent volatility has left the index trading down 7 percent from its record high on Jan 26, and most of its components have fallen even further from their own recent highs as investors worry about high valuations and likely interest rate hikes.

 

Nearly 18 percent of S&P 500 components have fallen 20 percent or more from their own one-year highs, according to Thomson Reuters data, putting them in bear-market territory. Another 41 percent of S&P 500 stocks are down between 10 and 20 percent from their year highs, a range that investor consider correction territory.

Graphic: S&P 500 Bears - https://reut.rs/2JnINfK

Within the Dow Jones Industrial Average <.DJI>, General Electric has slumped 56 percent from its year high in April 2017, while Walmart is down 20 percent from its year high in January. Another 12 of the Dow's 30 components have declined between 10 and 20 percent from their year highs.

Graphic: Dow Bears - https://reut.rs/2JnINwg

The two largest U.S. companies by stock market value weathered Wall Street's recent volatility better than most, helping limit the S&P 500's loss in 2018 to under 1 percent. Apple and Microsoft are down 2.6 percent and 1.5 percent, respectively since the end of February, better than the S&P 500's 6 percent loss in that time. The two technology behemoths are down about 5 percent each from their own previous record highs.

Amazon.com has fallen 5 percent in the past month but remains up 24 percent year to date, as investors continue to bet the online retailer and cloud computing behemoth will expand further into food retail and other markets.

(Reporting by Noel Randewich)