Railroad stocks fall, help drag Dow transports down in an up market

Shares of railroad operators fell Wednesday, helping drag the Dow Jones Transportation Average DJT, -0.35% down by 1.3% in midday trading despite a 39-point gain in the Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, +0.06% and 0.3% rise in the S&P 500 SPX, +0.27%, amid concerns over a possible labor strike. Shares of Union Pacific Corp. UNP, -3.00% shed 4.8%, Norfolk Southern Corp. NSC, -1.87% dropped 2.8% and CSX Corp. CSX, -1.19% slumped 2.6%. The combined price declines of those stocks shaved about 112 points off the Dow transports’ price, while the Dow transports fell 174 points.