Industrials Down Amid Risk Aversion -- Industrials Roundup

Manufacturing and transportation shares declined as traders retreated from the "Trump trades" that led one of the strongest stock-market year openings in living memory.

New General Electric Chief Executive John Flannery said the conglomerate could break up into separate units as he warned on a conference call about a multibillion dollar write-down at its insurance unit. "We are looking aggressively at the best structure or structures for our portfolio to maximize the potential of our businesses," Mr. Flannery said. GE said it would book a $6.2 billion charge in its fourth quarter to bolster insurance reserves at its GE Capital unit.

Energizer Holdings said it will buy Spectrum Brands Holdings' battery and portable lighting business for $2 billion in cash, adding Rayovac and Varta batteries to its own lines.

A.P. Moller Maersk, the Danish operator of the world's biggest container shipping line, said Tuesday that it will enter a joint venture with International Business Machines to create a more efficient and secure platform to coordinate global trade using blockchain technology.

--Rob Curran, rob.curran@dowjones.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

January 16, 2018 16:20 ET (21:20 GMT)