Global listed infrastructure companies, on average, were down 4.8 percent in December, according to the Global Listed Infrastructure Organization coverage of the market. In comparison, global equities fell 7.5 percent in December. Global infrastructure finished 2018 slightly down (–1.7 percent) compared against global equities (–8.9 percent), an outperformance of 7.2 percent, showing the defensive qualities of the asset class in difficult markets. Below is a summary of how the sectors performed in December.

Global transport companies finished 2018 down 2.4 percent

The heavyweight freight rail companies pulled the transportation sector lower in December but remained up by 0.70 percent. The advance was led by CSX (14.5 percent); Union Pacific (5.3 percent), which hit a record high back in September; and Norfolk Southern (5.2 percent).

Global utilities were up 0.60 percent in 2018, on average

Electric utilities were up 2