Our session was a bit of a tussle after President Trump announced aluminum and steel tariffs and markets intersected with the 9th anniversary of the bull market as our trading session ended March 15, 2018.
The HVACR Business Stock Index slid 32.80 points, or 2.03 percent, and closed at 1582.58. Declining issues passed advancing issues at a 19-to-12 count.
Manitowoc tumbled 5.33 points, or 15.11 percent, and closed at 29.94. Activist investor Carl Icahn said he was unaware of President Trump’s intention to increase steel and aluminum tariffs before he sold one-third of his stake in Manitowoc shares, worth about $31 million.
Despite an upgrade, shares of Parker-Hannifin slid 4.55 points, or 2.46 percent.
The continued lack of housing stock contributed to a drop in sales of existing homes. The National Association of Realtors said that sales fell 3.2 percent in January. Year-over-year, sales of existing homes fell 4.8 percent, the biggest yearly decrease since August 2014.
U.S. shipments of residential gas storage water heaters for January 2018 increased 7.7 percent to 387,945 units, up from 360,133 units shipped in January 2017.
U.S. shipments of gas warm air furnaces for January 2018 increased 13.3 percent to 262,744 units, up from 231,997 units shipped in January 2017. Oil warm air furnace shipments increased 8.6 percent to 3,226 units in January 2018, up from 2,970 units shipped in January 2017.
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