UPDATE: Here are the biggest winners in a solid third quarter for U.S. stocks

3:09 pm ET October 3, 2020 (MarketWatch) Print

By Philip van Doorn, MarketWatch

Gains were spread across tech, materials, industrials and retailers

(Sept. 30 closing prices.)

The third quarter shaped up to be favorable for U.S. stocks, with broad gains across many sectors, including winners in Big Tech. But there were also surprises, as you can see in the stock tables below.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 7.6% in the third quarter, for a 2.7% decline for all of 2020. The S&P 500 Index was up 8.5% in the quarter, for a 4.1% gain for 2020. The Nasdaq Composite Index gained 11% in the third quarter and was up 24.5% for 2020, despite a 5% decline in September.

Here's how the 11 sectors of the S&P 500 fared in the third quarter:

S&P 500 sector Price change - third quarter, 2020 Price change - September 2020 Price change - Sept. 30 Price change - 2020

Consumer Discretionary 14.9% -3.7% 0.7% 22.4%

Materials 12.7% 1.1% 0.9% 3.7%

Industrials 12.0% -0.8% -0.3% -5.4%

Information Technology 11.7% -5.4% 0.9% 27.5%

Consumer Staples 9.6% -1.8% 1.2% 1.9%

Communication Services 8.7% -6.5% 0.1% 7.6%

Health Care 5.4% -2.3% 1.7% 3.6%

Utilities 5.2% 0.8% 0.9% -8.1%

Financials 3.8% -3.7% 1.2% -21.7%

Real Estate 1.2% -2.5% 0.5% -8.9%

Energy -20.9% -14.6% -0.2% -50.2%

Source: FactSet

None of the price changes in this article include dividends.

Scroll the tables to the right to see all the data.

All sectors of the S&P 500 had gains in the third quarter except for energy, which tumbled almost 20%, even though the price of oil , based on continuous contract quotes, rose 2%. Rising COVID-19 infections have led to economic closures, dragging on the sector (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/oil-prices-head-for-a-second-straight-decline-as-covid-19-cases-rise-11601470125).

Dow

Among the 30 components of the Dow Jones Industrial Average, 24 were up for the third quarter. There were three changes to the index Aug. 31, with Salesforce.com Inc. (CRM) replacing Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM), Amgen Inc. (AMGN) replacing Pfizer Inc. (PFE) and Honeywell International Inc. (HON) replacing Raytheon Technologies Corp. (RTX).

Here's how the Dow 30 have performed during Q3, from best to worst:

Company Ticker Price change - third quarter, 2020 Price change - September 2020 Price change - Sept. 30 Price change - 2020

Salesforce.com Inc. US:CRM 45.5% -7.8% 1.6% 54.5%

Apple Inc. US:AAPL 43.9% -10.3% 1.5% 57.8%

Nike Inc. Class B US:NKE 43.8% 12.2% -0.6% 23.9%

McDonald's Corp. US:MCD 25.5% 2.8% 0.4% 11.1%

Caterpillar Inc. US:CAT 24.7% 4.8% 1.2% 1.0%

Dow Inc. US:DOW 23.7% 4.3% 1.0% -14.0%

Procter & Gamble Co. US:PG 19.9% 0.5% 1.3% 11.3%

Honeywell International Inc. US:HON 19.3% -0.6% 0.1% -7.0%

Walmart Inc. US:WMT 17.6% 0.8% 2.0% 17.7%

Home Depot Inc. US:HD 16.7% -2.6% 2.1% 27.2%

Walt Disney Co. US:DIS 14.7% -5.9% -1.1% -14.2%

Coca-Cola Co. US:KO 12.5% -0.3% 0.9% -10.8%

Amgen Inc. US:AMGN 9.8% 0.3% 2.4% 5.4%

Verizon Communications Inc. US:VZ 8.7% 0.4% 0.4% -3.1%

UnitedHealth Group Inc. US:UNH 8.6% -0.2% 2.5% 6.1%

Merck & Co. Inc. US:MRK 8.5% -2.7% 1.3% -8.8%

Johnson & Johnson US:JNJ 7.4% -3.0% 1.2% 2.1%

American Express Co. US:AXP 7.3% -1.3% 2.6% -19.5%

Microsoft Corp. US:MSFT 5.0% -6.7% 1.5% 33.4%

Visa Inc. Class A US:V 5.0% -5.7% 0.3% 6.4%

3M Co. US:MMM 3.6% -1.7% 0.2% -9.2%

JPMorgan Chase & Co. US:JPM 2.8% -3.9% 1.0% -30.9%

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. US:GS 2.5% -1.9% 2.1% -12.6%

International Business Machines Corp. US:IBM 0.9% -1.3% 0.6% -9.2%

Travelers Cos. Inc. US:TRV -6.6% -6.8% 0.7% -21.0%

Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc US:WBA -14.8% -5.5% 1.5% -39.1%

Intel Corp. US:INTC -16.2% 1.6% 1.2% -13.5%

Boeing Co. US:BA -17.1% -3.8% 1.0% -49.3%

Cisco Systems Inc. US:CSCO -22.0% -7.6% 0.8% -18.6%

Chevron Corp. US:CVX -31.8% -14.2% 0.1% -40.3%

Source: FactSet

You can click on the tickers for more about each company, including full news coverage.

Scroll the table to the right to see all the data.

S&P 500 winners and losers

Among the S&P 500, 70% of stocks had gains in the third quarter. Here are the 10 best performers:

Company Ticker Price change - third quarter, 2020 Price change - September 2020 Price change - Sept. 30 Price change - 2020

L Brands Inc. US:LB 183.6% 8.2% 4.8% 75.6%

FedEx Corp. US:FDX 99.6% 14.4% -0.8% 66.3%

Whirlpool Corp. US:WHR 84.6% 3.5% 1.7% 24.6%

Nvidia Corp. US:NVDA 75.8% 1.2% 2.3% 130.0%

Freeport-McMoRan Inc. US:FCX 75.5% 0.2% 2.1% 19.2%

Carrier Global Corp. US:CARR 72.1% 2.3% 0.1% N/A

Advanced Micro Devices Inc. US:AMD 70.6% -9.7% 0.3% 78.8%

(MORE TO FOLLOW) Dow Jones Newswires

October 03, 2020 15:09 ET (19:09 GMT)