An index of Colorado stocks dropped Monday as the recent slide in commodity prices and inflation fears motivated investors to sell off many of the state’s mining, energy and technology companies.
The Bloomberg Colorado Index, a price-weighted index of 111 public companies based in the state, fell by 1.4 percent to close at 335.16.
The decline continues a more than week-long slide for many of the state’s publicly traded companies. Since reaching a year-to- date high of 364.16 on May 10, the index has fallen by 7.96 percent.
Some companies have seen their share prices plunge by double digits this month, including Ball Corp. (down 10.1 percent), Myogen Inc. (down 13 percent) and Forest Oil Corp. (down 13.2 percent).
“The yellow light is on,” said Barbara Walchli, portfolio manager of the Aquila Rocky Mountain Equity Fund. “We were overdue for a correction.”
The recent decline in commodities, including prices for gold, natural gas and oil, hurt the Colorado index because the state is loaded with companies in those industries, Walchli said.
She added that some Colorado companies are relatively young and still growing, which makes them more volatile compared with the rest of the market.
Several companies were able to eke out modest gains Monday, including Level 3 (up 1.2 percent), A4S Security Inc. (up 1.7 percent) and Red Robin Gourmet Burgers Inc. (1.7 percent).
Staff writer Will Shanley can be reached at 303-820-1260 or wshanley@denverpost.com.
