October losses
The share prices of Chattanooga’s publicly traded companies fell significantly last month:* U.S. Xpress Enterprises, down 30.2 percent* Mohawk Industries, down 28.9 percent* Astec Industries, down 28.2 percent* Dixie Group, 21.9 percent* CBL Properties, down 17.3 percent* Covenant Transport, down 13.9 percent* Miller Industries, down 10.1 percent* Unum Group, down 8.6 percent
Stocks climbed for the second day in a row Wednesday at the end of a brutal month for the global market. Investors applauded strong quarterly results from companies including Facebook and General Motors, but U.S. stocks still finished with their worst monthly loss in seven years.
Many of the biggest gains Wednesday came from technology and internet companies and retailers, which plunged early in October as investors worried about rising interest rates and the U.S.-China trade dispute.
The S&P 500 hadn’t risen for two consecutive days since late September. It finished October with a loss of 6.9 percent, its worst since September 2011. The third quarter of this year was the best in five years for U.S. stocks, but those gains were wiped out this month. The S&P 500 is now up 1.4 percent for the year.
Stocks began sinking on Oct. 3 as interest rates rocketed higher. Even after those gains eased, investors kept selling stocks as they worried about the trade dispute and other factors that could also hurt economic growth and company profits.