GM stock falls victim to economic worries

Economic reports weigh on the automaker. Regulators probe the Pontiac Vibe sport wagon after safety complaints.

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NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Shares of automaker General Motors Corp. fell nearly 6%, making it one of the biggest losers on the Dow 30 Thursday afternoon, as investors were dismayed by weak economic data released earlier in the session.

The Conference Board announced Thursday that its index of leading economic indicators fell in January, the fourth straight month in a row. Also, the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia said manufacturing in its jurisdiction fell and the outlook for the next six months worsened.

Calyon Securities analyst Mark Warnsman points out that there is nothing specific in the auto sector today that should cause GM (GM, Fortune 500)'s stock to go down. Warnsman thinks the negative economic data is to blame, "in the sense that all auto stocks are tied to the boarder economy."

The only significant GM-specific news related to its Pontiac Vibe sport wagon, which is under investigation by U.S. regulators, according to The Detroit News. News of the probe came after the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration launched an engineering analysis as part of a safety review process.

Separately, GMAC announced Wednesday that it would eliminate 930 jobs, or 15% of its workforce, as part of a restructuring effort aimed at saving $175 million annually. To top of page

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Most stock quote data provided by BATS. Market indices are shown in real time, except for the DJIA, which is delayed by two minutes. All times are ET. Disclaimer. Morningstar: © 2018 Morningstar, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Factset: FactSet Research Systems Inc. 2018. All rights reserved. Chicago Mercantile Association: Certain market data is the property of Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. and its licensors. All rights reserved. Dow Jones: The Dow Jones branded indices are proprietary to and are calculated, distributed and marketed by DJI Opco, a subsidiary of S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC and have been licensed for use to S&P Opco, LLC and CNN. Standard & Poor's and S&P are registered trademarks of Standard & Poor's Financial Services LLC and Dow Jones is a registered trademark of Dow Jones Trademark Holdings LLC. All content of the Dow Jones branded indices © S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC 2018 and/or its affiliates.