The stock market finished the week strong, with investors pleased by what appeared to be a cordial and productive meeting between leaders of the U.S. and Chinese trade delegations. President Trump indicated that some progress had been made toward a preliminary agreement, and while many wonder just how limited any near-term deal might be, market participants appeared eager for some signs of forward motion.
Yet despite a market rally that took major stock indexes up by 1% to 2%, a few stocks still missed out on Friday's gains. Yandex (YNDX 6.31%), Jumia Technologies (JMIA +0.14%), and Coeur Mining (CDE +2.39%) were among the day's worst performers. Here's why they did so poorly.
The Kremlin could clamp down on Yandex
Shares of Yandex dropped almost 16% after news broke that the Russian parliament is looking at measures that could limit the ability of foreign investors to own stakes in the internet company. A draft law would target certain technology companies with a maximum foreign ownership limit of 20%. Russian lawmakers argue that the measure is necessary in order to ensure that their country's tech companies are not taken over by larger foreign rivals. About 85% of Yandex stock trades on the Nasdaq, and its management argued that if passed, the law would only hurt its ability to access the capital it requires in order to grow. U.S. investors seemed pessimistic about Yandex's chances to avoid getting hobbled by the potential new regulations.
Image source: Getty Images.
Jumia keeps sagging
Jumia Technologies' shares dropped another 7%, adding to its losses from throughout the week. The African e-commerce company had previously drawn favorable comparisons to its major U.S. counterparts, with the parallels stoking optimism in the stock. Yet recently, word of Jumia's challenges began to surface; there are concerns about problems with payment processing, phone communications, order cancellations, and even parking issues. This week, the lockup period on Jumia's initial public offering expired, meaning insiders were free to sell shares. However, until and unless the company starts showing signs that its fundamental business conditions are improving, there will be no reason to really expect Jumia's stock to recover.
Coeur loses some of its shine
Finally, shares of Coeur Mining were down more than 9%. The precious metals miner reported third-quarter production numbers, which included almost 100,000 ounces of gold along with 3 million ounces of silver. Base metal byproduct production totaled 4.2 million pounds of zinc and 4.5 million pounds of lead, and sales of the metals were consistent with the production totals. Coeur still expects 2019 full-year production to land within the range it had previously forecast. However, the fact that the stock market climbed Friday led to less demand among investors for the safe haven of precious metals, which likely sapped Coeur's stock temporarily. For the longer term, though, its fundamentals still look strong.
