Why Shares of Construction and Materials Companies Are Falling Today
The United States went to the polls Tuesday night, and it appears gridlock was the big winner. That's weighing on companies that would benefit from an increase in government spending, including companies tied closely to infrastructure spending.
Shares of construction giant Fluor (NYSE: FLR) and building material suppliers Vulcan Materials (NYSE: VMC) and Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE: MLM) each fell by more than 12% early on Wednesday. The stocks recovered somewhat, but each was off by at least 6% as of 11:30 a.m. EST.
Boosting spending on infrastructure, including replacing aging roads and bridges, has been a popular lawmaker talking point for some time now, but for all the support it seems to have, we still haven't seen a large spending package come out of Washington. With the economy still sputtering due to the pandemic, some had hoped a boost in infrastructure spending would be a top post-election priority as a way to get people working and make sure dollars are flowing.
Source Fool.com
