Consumer staples, health-care and IT firms hit hardest during last government shutdown

The last time the U.S. federal government shut down, consumer staples, health-care and information technology stocks were hit the hardest. In the 21 trading days between Dec. 16, 1995 and Jan. 6, 1996, consumer staples stocks were down 2.2%, health-care stocks fell 2% and IT stocks were down 1.8%. Blue-chip sectors like materials, energy and utilities fared the best during the period, up 3.2%, 2.8% and 2.8%, respectively during the impasse.