Nearly 8% of the S&P 500 has taken a bath this week — 39 stocks fell at least 10%

For example, homebuilder D.R. Horton Inc. DHI, -6.17% was down 6.2% on Jan. 7, when the benchmark S&P 500 Index SPX, -0.41% declined only 0.4%. Why would the company’s shares fall so much in only one day when demand for housing in the U.S. is so high? Because even though mortgage loan rates are still at historically low levels, their recent increase to their highest levels in a year has put some people into panic mode.

The decline in the U.S. unemployment rate to 3.9% in December, the high inflation rate and this week’s release of the minutes of the last Federal Open Market Committee meeting all have investors expecting a significant increase in interest rates. That means more demand for bonds as yields become more attractive. And that can put downward pressure on the stock market, especially tech stocks that trade at high valuations to earnings.

To be sure, not all of these declines have been caused by the fear of rising interest rates. Humana Inc. HUM, -1.19% is the worst performer of 2022 among the S&P 500. The shares plunged 19% on Jan. 6 after the company lowered its guidance for membership growth for individual Medicare Advantage plans in 2022. CEO Bruce Broussard made several comments about the company being “disadvantaged,” but pointed to 2023 for expected investments to better compete in that market.

The S&P 500 Index has pulled back 1.9% so far in 2022 through the close on Jan. 7. (All price changes in this article exclude dividends). But 125 components of the index are down at least 5% this year.

Here are the 39 stocks in the S&P 500 that have fallen at least 10% this year:

You can click the tickers for more about each company.

Then read for Tomi Kilgore’s detailed guide to the wealth of information available for free on the MarketWatch quote page.

Don’t miss: When tech stocks fade, where do you go?

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