Why Cemex and Other Infrastructure-Linked Names Jumped Today
Shares of Mexican-based cement maker Cemex (NYSE: CX), which has material operations in the United States (about 30% of sales), rose as much as 11% today. As of 1:51 p.m. EST, the stock was up 8.8%. However, it wasn't the only name related to construction and infrastructure to jump today. Giant U.S. steel mill Nucor was higher by 6% at one point, with peers Cleveland-Cliffs and Steel Dynamics up as much as 8% and 5%, respectively. Vulcan Materials, which like Cemex operates in the aggregate space, was higher by around 5% or so. Even Caterpillar, which makes construction machinery, was higher by nearly 4% at one point. The moves weren't gigantic, except perhaps for Cemex's, but they all played on the same theme from Washington.
Over the weekend, the House of Representatives passed a roughly $1 trillion infrastructure bill. The next step is for the bill to be signed by the president and put into law. Although the passage happened over the weekend, it's been a long time coming, noting that the bill passed the Senate in August. But now that the waiting is almost over, investors have reacted by boosting stocks that would likely benefit from the spending in the bill.
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Source Fool.com
