US Markets Rise Thanks to Positive Quarterly Reports but Fed Calls for Banking Regulation Changes

NEW YORK (dpa-AFX) – The US stock markets rose on Friday thanks to the mostly positive quarterly reports from US companies. However, there were also some clear downward outliers in the individual values. Buying sentiment dampened concerns about inflation and the potential impact on regional banks following the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank. Officials at the US Federal Reserve are therefore now calling for far-reaching changes to banking regulations.

Der Dow Jones Industrial rose in early trading for the first time in ten days above the 34,000 point mark and was last listed 0.59 percent higher at 34,0124.83 points. This indicates a weekly gain of around 0.6 percent for the leading US index. In the trading month of April, the Dow recorded a plus of around 2.2 percent. The market-wide S&P 500 gained 0.61 percent on Friday to 4060.60 points. The Nasdaq 100
increased by 0.29 percent to 13198.82 points.

Investors are nervous about uncertainty over possible further rate hikes by the Fed after fresh inflation data on Friday raised the likelihood of a hike next week and possibly in June, the market said. Labor costs increased more than expected in the first quarter. The better-than-expected Chicago Purchasing Managers’ Index for April provided slightly positive impetus.

Ahead of the weekend, a few corporate heavyweights offered a peek at the books, with mixed price reactions. Intel stock jumped 4.7 percent as the clear Dow leader. The manufacturer of semiconductors and data centers posted a slump in sales and billions in losses in the first quarter, but analysts had expected worse.

The papers from Amazon lost 3.5 percent after the quarterly report. The online retailer started the new financial year with a surprisingly significant increase in sales. Expectations were also exceeded in terms of earnings. However, management’s conference call brought the uncomfortable realization that the cloud business saw only weakened growth in April. For Amazon, the cloud division is a key profit driver because of its high profit margins.

Snap shares fell by more than 18 percent. At the company known for the photo app Snapchat, sales fell by seven percent in the past quarter. Previously, the service had been known for explosive growth.

The two oil and gas giants Exxon Mobil and chevrons
earned more in the first quarter than analysts had expected on average. While Exxon was up 1.9 percent, Chevron was up 0.8 percent.

The consumer goods group Colgate-Palmolive made a robust start to the new year. Sales grew by 8.5 percent in the first quarter. However, high material costs weighed on the result. However, it was apparently good enough for investors, with shares rising 3.3 percent.

T-Mobile US lost 3.6 percent. The US subsidiary of Deutsche Telekom did not grow as strongly as expected in service revenue at the beginning of the year and even posted a decline in revenue overall.

The papers of the First Republic Bank have since suspended trading after falling more than 50 percent to a record low. It had previously been reported that receivership was the most likely scenario for the regional bank. Most recently, the shares were still 40 percent lower./edh/he

 ISIN  US2605661048  US6311011026  US78378X1072

AXC0357 2023-04-28/20:19

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