Boeing skids to longest losing streak since 2016

Boeing shares suffered their longest losing streak in almost 15 months as investors worry that the aircraft and rocket maker could be a major casualty in a possible global trade war.

President Donald Trump’s announcement on March 1 to introduce heavy tariffs on steel and aluminium imports has prompted threats of retaliation from the EU, China and others that could take a toll on a number of US companies making everything from machinery to bourbon and denim. Investors are taking out their nervousness on those companies’ share prices.

Boeing shares closed 0.1 per cent lower to $329.98, falling for a fourth straight session and marking the longest losing streak since late December 2016. The stock is down 9.5 per cent since its record high on February 27, just before the tariff announcement, but found itself in technical correction territory (defined as a drop of 10 per cent or more from a peak) at its intraday low.

Heavy earthmoving equipment maker Caterpillar and motorcycle maker Harley-Davidson are also seen as potential targets if other countries and trade blocs retaliate against the US.

Bourbon is also in the line of fire, and Paul Varga, chief executive of Jack Daniel’s owner Brown-Forman said this month the company could be an “an unfortunate and unintended victim” in a tariff-triggered trade war.

Carmakers Ford and GM, as well as other international vehicle makers, could face higher raw material costs, although the performance of the two US groups has diverged over the past fortnight.

With the exception of Ford, those names have underperformed the broader S&P 500 since the end of last month. Declines for Boeing, with its nominally high share price, are keeping a lid on the Dow Jones Industrial Average, the price-weighted gauge of 30 blue-chip stocks.

US steel and aluminium stocks had been runaway winners in the immediate aftermath of the tariff announcement, but that performance has become more mixed in recent days. US Steel and AK Steel now weaker than their end-of-February levels, while Nucor is higher.