BUZZ-Transport stocks sink amid economy, tariff worries

The Dow Jones Transport average .DJT down 2.5% on Friday, eying its third consecutive loss and its deepest daily decline since December, with biggest losses from Old Dominion Freight Line ODFL.O and Fedex Corp FDX.N

Sell-off comes with signs of weak consumer sentiment, business activity

U.S. business activity nearly stalled in February, as per S&P Global, with fears over import tariffs, deep federal government spending cuts, erasing gains after the November election

Also, U.S. consumer sentiment dropped more than expected in February to a 15-month low, inflation expectations jumped as households worried about plans for steep, broad-based tariffs, as per University of Michigan Surveys

"It's just some questions about the health of the economy and concerns about things like tariffs having an impact," said Robert Pavlik, senior portfolio manager at Dakota Wealth.

The biggest decliner in the sector was trucking company Old Dominion, tumbling 10.2% and eying its steepest one-day drop since April 2024. Fedex fell ~6%, tracking for its biggest one-day loss since Feb. 3

Landstar Systems and JB Hunt Transport Services JBHT.O. were both down more than 2%

Travel stocks also among biggest losers with car rental co Avis CAR.O off almost 6% and Alaska Air ALK.N fell ~3%

The DJT, which didn't have a single stock advancing on the day, was also underperforming the broader market with the S&P 500 .SPX down 0.6% in comparison