Materials sector briefly dips into bear-market territory as Trump bump fades

The materials sector briefly slipped into bear-market territory earlier Tuesday, before paring some losses, but was still on track for the lowest close in 17 months. The SPDR Material Select Sector ETF was down as much as 3.1% at an intraday low of $51.03, which was 20.4% below the Jan. 26 record close of $64.09. Declines of 20% or more from a bull-market peak are viewed by many on Wall Street as defining a bear market. The sector tracker (XLB) bounced slightly since, and was down 1.2% at $52.05 in afternoon trade, which was 18.8% below its record, and on track for the lowest close since May 18, 2017. The materials sector was seen as one of the most promising in a Trump presidency, as it includes companies that would benefit from infrastructure spending, including building a border wall, and from measures to boost the mining industries. But after running up 21.8% in 2017, to outpace the S&P 500's 19.4% rise, the XLB has tumbled 14.0% so far this year, compared with a 2.1% rise in the S&P 500.

https://finance.yahoo.com/m/ee025a9a...html?.tsrc=rss