Profits crumble after record highs
US stock exchanges close inconsistently
January 24, 2024, 10:34 p.m
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After a furious start to the day on Wall Street, the good mood noticeably cools down in the evening. The Dow closes in the red, the other indices save a small plus. Netflix shares are making a leap forward, Ebay is cutting jobs.
Things continued to improve on Wall Street. The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq 100 set new all-time highs right from the start, while the Dow remained just below. Strong subscriber numbers from Netflix created a buying mood – especially in the technology segment. This was accompanied by economic confidence. On the one hand, the Chinese central bank is lowering the minimum reserve requirements in order to provide an economic stimulus, and on the other hand, the January purchasing managers’ indices for the manufacturing and service sectors in the USA were better than expected.
The indices thus confirm signals that the US economy is largely resistant to the interest rate increases that have taken place. However, this was unfavorable news for the market’s interest rate cut hopes. Yields on the bond market also rose noticeably, which resulted in share prices falling significantly from their daily highs during trading.
The Dow Jones Index lagged behind all day, ultimately losing 0.3 percent to 37,806 points. The S&P 500 saved an increase of 0.1 percent. The Nasdaq indices rose by up to 0.5 percent. According to initial information, there were 1,273 (Tuesday: 1,394) price winners and 1,557 (1,418) losers on the Nyse. 68 (89) titles closed unchanged.
Netflix shares are bullish
The daily winners on the stock market were semiconductor stocks, whose S&P 500 subindex rose by 1.9 percent. Strong business figures and a confirmed outlook from the Dutch semiconductor manufacturer ASML, among other things, provided confidence here, after the largest chip contract manufacturer TSMC recently pleased with its outlook.
The Netflix stock made a jump of almost 11 percent. The streaming provider was able to unexpectedly increase its number of subscribers in the past quarter. In this regard, Netflix spoke of the best fourth quarter in its history. The sales and profit figures in the reporting period, which were close to expectations, were almost lost. Texas Instruments (TI) fell by 2.4 percent. The chip manufacturer presented rather mixed figures and gave a pessimistic outlook, at least in the short term.
The telephone giant AT&T Although sales were slightly higher than expected, the result missed analysts’ expectations and was disappointing with its outlook. The price fell by 3.0 percent. Abbott Laboratories (-2.8%) saw overall rising sales, but also weak demand for the company’s Covid-19 tests. According to market participants, the outlook was not entirely convincing. Ebay gained 0.5 percent. As CEO Jamie Iannone announced in an internal memo, around 9 percent of full-time positions will be eliminated.