Wall Street
Nasdaq weak: US stock market ups and downs continue
Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange on Wall Street. Photo: Ted Shaffrey/AP/dpa
© dpa-infocom GmbH
The back and forth on Wall Street continues: the reactions to other quarterly figures from major US corporations are mostly negative.
Because of the monetary policy perspectives, the indices of the US stock exchanges fluctuated between gains and losses, as they had all week.
After a peak increase of 1.8 percent, the Dow Jones Industrial was temporarily in the red again. In the end it leveled off at a neutral level. From trading, it went 0.02 percent lower at 34,160.78 points.
Some courageous investors grabbed again at the reduced level, with surprisingly high growth in the US economy in the fourth quarter being gratefully accepted. However, trade was once again bumpy. “The volatility of the stock exchanges will not go away anytime soon,” said market observer Edward Moya from broker Oanda. In the past, the masses tactically attacked setbacks. In the meantime, however, the motto is to sell again at every rally.
The broader S&P 500 fell 0.54 percent to 4326.51 points. The technology-heavy Nasdaq 100 even lost 1.20 percent to 14,003.11 points. The number templates from Tesla and Intel were not well received.
Tesla at its lowest since October
The reactions to other quarterly figures from major US corporations were mostly negative. Tesla shares, for example, fell 11.6 percent on the Nasdaq to their lowest level since October. In 2021, the electric car manufacturer earned more than ever before in a financial year, but the prospects for 2022 were criticized. CEO Elon Musk disappointed with the statement that no new vehicle models would be presented this year.
Investors didn’t leave a good hair on Intel’s figures either, the papers fell by seven percent and were by far the biggest Dow loser. The chip company disappointed investors with its profit forecast for the first quarter of 2022. Among other things, the expenses for expanding production weigh on profitability.
McDonald’s was another Dow loser by the numbers, albeit more moderately, down 0.4 percent. In terms of sales, the fast-food chain is still coming out of the Corona crisis, but here, too, profitability was seen as a mood brake. Analysts judged that rising labor and raw material costs were eating away at profits.
mood subdued
On the other hand, the chemical group Dow Inc. convinced with its figures from the leading index. With an increase of 5.2 percent, investors reacted very happily to a record result achieved in 2021. Higher demand and price increases fueled business.
As for technology stocks, Microsoft stocks were unable to prevent sentiment from deteriorating again. After the strong results that the software company presented after the trading session on Tuesday, the papers continued their positive conclusion of the day before with a plus of one percent.
Apple titles, on the other hand, closed moderately down 0.3 percent shortly before the quarterly report. The numbers are expected from the iPhone group after the trading day. Rod Hall of the investment bank Goldman Sachs had expressed caution a few days ago as far as the first quarter is concerned.
Even though the Nasdaq indices turned negative, the shares of the streaming provider Netflix remained on a recovery course after a recent sharp drop in prices that had been triggered by a disappointing subscriber outlook. They moved up 7.5 percent as a favorite on the Nasdaq 100. Streaming competitor Walt Disney’s shares also recovered with them, rising 1.4 percent on the Dow.
Following the Fed’s decision from the previous day, investors are now expecting even faster interest rate hikes in the USA. The euro reacted to this with significant losses and the lowest level since mid-2020. The last price paid was 1.1145 US dollars. The European Central Bank had set the reference rate at 1.1160 (Wednesday: 1.1277) dollars. The dollar thus cost 0.8961 (0.8868) euros.
US government bonds felt a little more demand after their price slide on the previous day. The futures contract for ten-year Treasuries recently rose 0.11 percent to 127.66 points. The yield on the ten-year government bonds was 1.81 percent.