Investors Face More Risk That Sanders Will Win, Wall Street Says
- Strong, broad victory in Nevada means Sanders has better odds
- Stocks with exposure, like health care and banks, underperform
Attendees hold illuminated letter signs during a campaign event for Bernie Sanders in Las Vegas on Feb. 21.
Photographer: Joe Buglewicz/BloombergAs U.S. stocks tumbled on Monday, hit by mounting coronavirus fears, analysts also flagged the possibility that investors haven’t been taking Bernie Sanders seriously enough, after the Vermont senator’s surprisingly broad support in the Nevada caucuses Saturday.
Sectors with exposure to the progressive Democratic candidate, including managed care companies and the biggest banks, underperformed in early trading. Centene Corp. and UnitedHealth Group ended last week lower and were the biggest decliners in health care on Monday, with both sinking more than 7%. The KBW Bank Index shed as much as 3.5%, the most since August, and fell to the lowest since late October, with Bank of America Corp. and Citigroup Inc. briefly dropping more than 4%.