How Tampa-St. Pete public company’s stocks did on the worst day for the markets in 2019

U.S. stocks posted their largest one-day losses of 2019 on Monday, and 19 of the 20 largest publicly traded companies headquartered in the Tampa-St. Pete area followed suit.

Apyx Medical Corp. (Nasdaq: APYX), a medical device manufacturer in Clearwater, sustained the biggest loss, as its stock price dipped 9.85 percent and closed Monday at $6.68 a share.

Larger companies, including major employers such as Tech Data (Nasdaq: TECD), an IT distributor in Clearwater; Jabil (NYSE:JBL), an electronics manufacturer in St. Petersburg; and Raymond James Financial (NYSE: RJF), a financial services firm in St. Petersburg, saw smaller declines.

Fluctuations in stock prices can inflate or shrink shareholder portfolios and employee retirement plans. Stock prices also are key to mergers and acquisitions. A higher stock price means more buying power for companies that use equity instead of cash to seal deals.

The overall drop in the stock market Monday came on the heels of a week of mixed earnings reports and was attributed to signals that the long-simmering U.S.-China trade war was escalating, according to Fortune. That could hamper consumer spending and slow global economic growth.

Here’s a look at Monday’s stock performance for locally-based companies, those traded on a major stock exchange and with at least $100 million in market capitalization.

Just one local company, United Insurance Holdings Corp. (Nasdaq: UIHC), managed to eke out a small stock price gain Monday.

However, United Insurance, which does business as UPC Insurance and is a St. Petersburg-based property and casualty insurer, is down 31.3 percent since Jan. 2.

Here’s a look at year-to-date stock performance for the 20 local companies.