The broad U.S. stock market extended its plunge in September.
The S&P 500 closed the month 9.3% lower, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 8.8%. The smaller-cap-focused Russell 2000 fell even more, down 9.7% in September.
With high inflation and the Federal Reserve boosting its federal funds rate by another 75 basis points during the month, investors are beginning to pull away from equity stocks and invest in safer alternatives such as Treasurys as recession fears strengthen.
Sector performance
All S&P 500 sector indexes logged monthly declines for September, with the real estate sector dropping the furthest at 13.6%. The communication services and information technology sectors followed, declining 12.2% and 12.0%, respectively.
The healthcare sector index recorded the smallest drop, down 2.7%, while the financials and consumer discretionary sector indexes fell 7.9% and 8.1%, respectively.
Biggest drops, gains
Among the S&P 500 constituents, transportation-focused FedEx Corp. experienced the largest drop in share price in the recent month, down 29.6%. FedEx's large share-price decline immediately followed the company's recent earnings release, where it reported lower-than-expected earnings amid macroeconomic challenges.
"Global volumes declined as macroeconomic trends significantly worsened later in the quarter, both internationally and in the U.S. We are swiftly addressing these headwinds, but given the speed at which conditions shifted, first quarter results are below our expectations," FedEx CEO Raj Subramaniam said in the earnings release.
Apparel company VF Corp. logged the second-largest decrease in share price, down 27.8%, followed by communication services company Lumen Technologies Inc. at 26.9%.
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On the other end, Biogen Inc.'s share price grew by 36.7% during the month, the largest increase of the group. The biotechnology company's share price surged nearly 40% on Sept. 28 following the company's statement that its experimental Alzheimer's drug had significantly slowed the disease's progression, according to a large study.
Ranking second and third for the largest share-price increases for the month were biotechnology-focused Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. and social media-oriented Twitter Inc., with share-price increases of 18.6% and 13.1%, respectively.
Cruise line company Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd. and airline company American Airlines Group Inc. were the most-traded stocks within the S&P 500 for the month, each with an average daily volume equal to approximately 5.1% of their shares outstanding. Semiconductor company Advanced Micro Devices Inc. ranked third, with an average daily volume equal to 4.9% of its shares outstanding.
