Investing.com - A slump in DowDuPont triggered a malaise in materials stocks after the company was punished for delivering results that missed on the top line .
DowDuPont (NYSE:DWDP) shares sank 8% after the conglomerate reported revenue of $20.1 billion, missing the expectation for $20.95 billion. Earnings were marginally ahead of estimates at $0.88 a share.
The revenue miss was blamed on lower demand for automotive and appliance-related products, which experienced "more than normal season slowdown," the company said.
Materials were also weighed down by a decline in Celanese as investors continued to digest the company's below-consensus fourth-quarter results reported earlier this week.
Celanese (NYSE:CE) reported fourth-quarter earnings of $2.38 a share on $1.69 billion in revenue, below expectations for earnings of $2.40 a share on revenue of $1.73 billion.
The company also offered a dour outlook on growth in the coming year.
"Assuming this slower start and expecting some fourth-quarter 2019 moderation, which we commonly see, we would anticipate 2019 adjusted earnings of approximately $10.50 per share," said Mark Rohr, chairman and chief executive officer.
The S&P 500 Materials index fell 1.3% on the day, taking losses over the past year to about 15%.