NEW YORK (awp international) – The US stock exchanges noticeably curbed their significant losses from early trading on Thursday. Most recently, the leading index Dow Jones Industrial fell by 0.38 percent to 30,912.07 points. The market-wide S&P 500 reduced its daily minus at 3809.21 points to 0.25 percent, while the technology-heavy selection index Nasdaq 100 fell by 0.45 percent to 11,606.22 points.
For the first half of the year, which is coming to an end, the worst price developments in decades are emerging: the three US stock market barometers are heading for steep price drops of 15, 20 and 29 percent for this period.
The risk of further rising interest rates and a recession triggered by them continues to have a firm grip on the US stock markets. Stockbrokers point out that US Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell and his counterparts from the euro zone and Great Britain warned at a forum on Wednesday that inflation would last longer. This has fueled the debate “that continuing to raise interest rates to combat inflation will ultimately lead to a recession,” wrote market strategist Jim Reid of Deutsche Bank.
When prices rise, consumers try to curb spending. This is also confirmed by the less sharp rise in spending by US consumers in May than expected. In addition, according to revised data, spending in the previous month had risen more slowly than previously known.
The sluggish buying mood was felt on the stock exchange by the shares of the car manufacturer: Ford, General Motors (GM) and Stellantis lost between two and three and a half percent. As a comparatively expensive consumer product, cars are often the first to slip off private shopping lists. In addition, with rising capital market interest rates, purchase financing becomes more expensive – also for important corporate customers.
Shares in the pharmacy chain Walgreens Boots Alliance fell by almost six percent and were the biggest losers in the Dow. Analyst Lisa Gill from the bank JPMorgan referred to a below-expected profitability in the third fiscal quarter.
Papers from the Corona beer brewer Constellation Brands lost a good four percent. A trader justified the losses with a cautious outlook for the second business quarter.
On the other hand, Biontech and Pfizer were among the daily winners with premiums of around seven and 3.3 percent, respectively. The US government is ordering further corona vaccines from the two companies on a large scale for a planned booster campaign in autumn. According to Pfizer boss Albert Bourla, it is also about agents that are intended to protect against newer virus variants such as Omicron./gl/men
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