NEW YORK (dpa-AFX) – The leading US index Dow Jones Industrial has recorded moderate losses after the strong previous week. In the course of trading on Monday, the selling pressure increased somewhat after the head of the US Federal Reserve, Jerome Powell, caused uncertainty with statements on monetary policy.
After a weekly plus of almost 5.5 percent, the Dow fell by 0.58 percent to 34,552.99 points. The market-wide S&P 500 
ended up barely moving from the spot with a minus of 0.04 percent to 4461.18 points. For the tech-heavy select index Nasdaq 100 it went down by 0.31 percent to 14,376.09 points.
In view of the “much too high” inflation rate, Powell had brought up the possibility of faster increases in the key interest rate. The Fed could also hike interest rates by more than 0.25 percentage points at upcoming Federal Reserve Board meetings if needed, Powell said. Higher interest rates make risky assets like stocks less attractive compared to bonds.
Among the individual stocks, Boeing shares came under significant pressure after a China Eastern Airlines 737-800NG crashed from a great height with 132 occupants. The papers recorded a minus of 3.6 percent at the end of the Dow.
The crash happened in a remote, hilly area near the city of Wuzhou in southern China’s Guangxi region. China’s head of state and party leader Xi Jinping called on the airline to deal with the consequences of the accident appropriately and to investigate potential dangers to air traffic. China Eastern Airlines immediately ordered all Boeing 737s in its fleet grounded first.
At the end of the S&P 500, Nielsen Holdings shares fell almost 7 percent. The market research company had rejected a takeover bid by a consortium of private investment companies.
The papers of the insurer Alleghany jumped up by almost a quarter, because Warren Buffett’s investment company Berkshire Hathaway is again tackling a billion-dollar takeover after years of reluctance. An agreement has already been reached. Berkshire Hathaway shares gained a good two percent.
Rising oil prices drew investors’ attention back to ExxonMobil and Chevron. New uncertainties in the global supply of crude oil caused prices to rise. Over the weekend, Yemeni Houthi rebels attacked various targets in Saudi Arabia, including facilities belonging to the state oil company Aramco.
In addition, the situation on the oil market is very tense because of the Ukraine war, since Russia is a major producer and exporter of oil. Chevron’s shares, the Dow’s leader, rose 1.8 percent and ExxonMobil rose 4.5 percent.
The Euro suffered somewhat from the prospect of an unexpectedly sharp rise in key interest rates in the USA and was last listed at 1.1015 US dollars. The European Central Bank set the reference rate at 1.1038 (Friday: 1.1008) dollars; the dollar thus cost 0.9060 (0.9084) euros. Accordingly, US government bonds came under considerable pressure. The ten-year Treasury futures contract (T-Note-Future) fell 1.09 percent to 123.28 points. The return on ten-year government bonds was 2.3 percent./la/jha/
— By Lutz Alexander, dpa-AFX —
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