Dow’s drop: How blue-chips have fared during index’s peak turned worst-run in decades

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) rose Wednesday, ahead of the final Federal Reserve meeting of 2024, but the gauge of blue-chip stocks has been on a wild ride in December, culminating in a type of loss Wall Street hasn’t seen seen in decades.

The 30-stock index (DJI) on Tuesday logged its ninth consecutive decline, its lengthiest string of losses since 1978. This comes after the Dow on December 4 punched a record peak above 45,000 points.

The “old school, price-weighted index” has dropped more than 3% from its record close, as “tech stocks continue to garner investor interest, despite their considerable outperformance in 2024,” David Morrison, Trade Nation’s senior market analyst, said.

The Dow’s (DJI) loss so far stands in contrast to the 4.6% rise in the Nasdaq Composite (COMP:IND) in December through Tuesday. That move featured a milestone burst above 20,000 points. The S&P 500 (SP500) picked up ~0.3% during the same timeframe.

The Dow (DJI), of course, doesn’t lack Big Tech names, but its performance has been hurt in part by its newest constituent, AI chip heavyweight Nvidia (NVDA). Its shares dropped into correction territory this week, while investors have bid up other chip stocks, namely Broadcom (AVGO).

Nvidia’s (NVDA) fellow Magnificent 7 and Dow stocks Apple (AAPL), Microsoft (MSFT) and Amazon (AMZN) have each climbed in December.

Meanwhile, hits to Financial, Industrial, and Health Care blue-chips have weighed on the Dow (DJI), led by a double-digit plunge for UnitedHealth (UNH).

Here’s how the Dow 30 stocks have performed in December through Tuesday’s close:

• (UNH) -20.8%
• (SHW) -8.7%
• (CVX) -8.5%
• (TRV) -8.4%
• (VZ) -8%
• (CAT) -7.5%
• (AMGN) -5.98%
• (NVDA) -5.7%
• (GS) -5.6%
• (JNJ) -5.5%
• (PG)-4.98%
• (HD)-4.8%
• (JPM) -4.5%
• (MMM) -4.1%
• (DIS) -3.8%
• (CSCO) -1.2%
• (MRK) -1.6%
• (AXP) -1.1%
• (KO) -1.1%
• (NKE) -0.98%
• (MCD) +0.02%
• (HON) +0.09%
• (IBM) +0.7%
• (V) +1%
• (WMT) +3.2%
• (CRM) +6.4%
• (AAPL) +6.8%
• (MSFT) +7.3%
• (AMZN) +11.2%
• (BA) +11.3%

Here are some Dow (DJI) ETFs investors can monitor: (DIA), (DDM), (DOG), and (DXD).