As the surprise election of Donald Trump as US President results in a sectoral shake-out among stocks, agricultural commodities traders have been on the receiving end of a sore week.
Shares in Archer Daniels Midland (NYSE:ADM) and Bunge (NYSE:BG) are down sharply since Trump’s victory on Wednesday morning.
ADM’s shares are down 13% since the start of Wednesday trading and on Friday was down 7.9% at $41.63 while Bunge is down over 8% in the same period, and 4.4% of its lost on Friday, down to $64.41.
ADM has been downgraded to “underweight” by brokers at JP Morgan who explained that “the full impact of the Presidential election result is hard to quantify at this point. However, we believe that the risks to US agriculture are now skewed to the downside.”
Trump’s presidency are raising several concerns around the agriculture sector. They include worries about trade policy, currency impacts and potential changes in blending rules on biofuel mandates. The farming sector also relies heavily on immigrant labour, which is “a negative for US producers who are already struggling to achieve breakeven” JPM said.