Travel stocks sink as recession fears and tariff turmoil rattles Wall Street
Seeking Alpha News (Thu, 03-Apr 9:16 AM)
Travel stocks are struggling Thursday as recession fears and the potential for tighter discretionary budgets drive investors away from airline, cruises, and hotel stocks.
As Wall Street reels from the latest tariff turmoil, with major indices sliding over 3% in premarket trading, the travel and leisure sector is taking a heavy hit—especially companies reliant on international travel amid a weakening dollar. While a cheaper dollar usually attracts foreign visitors to the U.S., trade policy fallout could stoke anti-U.S. sentiment, potentially deterring inbound tourism.
U.S. carriers including United Airlines (NASDAQ:UAL), Delta Air Lines (DAL), American Airlines Group (AAL), Southwest Airlines (LUV), JetBlue (JBLU), Allegiant Travel Company (ALGT), and Frontier Group (ULCC) are all trading 5% to 6% lower into the open, resuming a multi-day losing streak in the sector. The U.S. Global Jets ETF (JETS) is currently trading 5% lower.
Among hotels, InterContinental Hotels (IHG), which operates brands as diverse as Holiday Inn to Regent Hotels & Resorts, is currently trading more than 4% lower, matching losses for Marriott International (MAR), Hyatt (H), and Hilton (HLT).
For the cruise industry, their value proposition that travelers find attractive failed to insulate the sector from the feeding frenzy in the travel industry with Carnival Corporation (CCL), Royal Caribbean (RCLH) and Norwegian Cruise Line (NCLH) all down 8% to 9%. Viking Holdings (VIK) is down 5%.
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