Equities received support from bond trading, where capital market interest rates fell after the weak growth data. The yield on ten-year US Treasury bonds has meanwhile slipped to its lowest level in more than three months.
The market-wide S&P 500 rose by 1.21 to 4072.43 points. The tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 rose 0.92 percent to 12,717.87 points after jumping more than 4 percent on Wednesday.
Economic output (GDP) in the United States fell by 0.9 percent on an annualized basis in the second quarter. Since the US economy shrank by an annualized 1.6 percent in the first quarter, the definition of a technical recession is met. This is what economists talk about when economic output falls two quarters in a row.
“Gross domestic product contracted in the first half, but job growth was strong,” noted Tiffany Wilding, economist at wealth manager Pimco. The expert did not want to speak of a recession just yet, but one is probably not far away. The economy is already suffering under the burden of tighter financial conditions and higher prices.
With a view to the individual values, the quarterly reports and forecasts of the companies continued to determine what was happening. The Facebook group Meta Platforms had recorded its first decline in sales. The development is tantamount to the end of an era: Since the IPO in 2012, things have only gone up rapidly. Meta shares lost 5.2 percent.
In view of the weak economy, the chip manufacturer Qualcomm expects lower consumer spending, which should also affect many products with semiconductors. These cautious statements broke the stock down by 4.5 percent.
The papers of the pharmaceutical companies Pfizer and Merck & Co also came under pressure according to the quarterly figures. The former lost 2.4 percent and the latter 1.4 percent. Pfizer is struggling with unfavorable exchange rates, and traders at Merck & Co spoke of taking profits after the price had risen by almost 20 percent since the beginning of the year.
Ford and Harley Davidson shares fared better, with premiums of 6.1 and 7.8 percent, respectively. The automaker far exceeded expectations in terms of earnings in the second quarter. Despite problems in the supply chains, the motorcycle manufacturer acted much more productively in the second quarter than expected on the market.
Southwest Airlines continues to face high costs while at the same time complaining about delayed deliveries of aircraft by Boeing. The airline’s share price then slipped 6.4 percent.
Jetblue Airways is acquiring low-cost carrier Spirit Airlines for at least $3.8 billion in cash. While Jetblue gave way slightly, Spirit Airlines increased by 5.6 percent.
The euro recovered most of its initial losses in late US FX trading. Most recently, the common currency was quoted at 1.0187 US dollars. The European Central Bank had previously set the reference rate at 1.0122 (Wednesday: 1.0152) dollars. The dollar had thus cost 0.9880 (0.9850) euros./bek/he
— By Benjamin Krieger, dpa-AFX —
(AWP)
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