indexes in this article
NEW YORK (dpa-AFX) – On Friday, the US stock exchanges were only able to gain something in the standard indices in a changeable but rather unspectacular course. The leading index Dow Jones Industrial (Dow Jones 30 Industrial) rose by 0.32 percent to 30,875.35 points on the last trading day before the long weekend, which means that it is heading for a weekly minus of almost two percent. There will be no stock market trading in New York next Monday due to the US Independence Day.
The market-wide S&P 500 rose by 0.20 percent to 3793.07 points on Friday. The technology-heavy NASDAQ 100, meanwhile, lost 0.17 percent to 11,483.82 points – on a weekly basis, this means a loss of over five percent for it.
The day before, the three stock market barometers had left trading with historically high price discounts for the first half of the year. Many investors around the world have lost interest in shares in view of rising interest rates and concerns about a possible impending recession.
That is not likely to change much in the coming months, according to John Higgins, chief economist for markets at the economic research consultancy Capital Economics. After the drought in the first half of the year, the expert wrote in a recent publication that he is not expecting a positive price development on Wall Street and the US bond market in the second half of the year either. Because the US Federal Reserve is likely to raise interest rates more sharply and then leave them at this level longer than currently priced in.
In view of the increasing fears of a recession, the market has now also started to assess the impact on companies’ earnings prospects, commented expert Stephen Innes of Spi Asset Management. Current data from the world’s largest economy turned out to be moderate.
Sentiment in industry fell more sharply than expected in June to a two-year low, as the purchasing manager index of the Institute for Supply Management (ISM) shows. The sentiment indicator, which is used as a yardstick for overall economic growth, is still well above the growth threshold of 50 points. Meanwhile, signs of weakness in the US housing market persist: Construction spending in May fell slightly month-on-month, while analysts had expected an increase.
The semiconductor manufacturer Micron is now feeling the effects of weaker demand. The sales outlook for the last business quarter, which was published after the market on Thursday, was disappointing, according to Brsians. The stock fell nearly 4 percent.
Meanwhile, the Kohl’s (Kohls) department store chain caused a sensation – it announced the end of talks about a takeover by the Franchise Group (Franchise Group A). After three weeks of exclusive negotiations, management cited the difficult financing and retail environment as obstacles to reaching an acceptable agreement with the potential buyer. Many disappointed investors fled the title, which has been under massive pressure for weeks anyway – most recently it was down more than 17 percent. The papers of the prospective buyer became cheaper by almost six percent.
Meanwhile, General Motors (GM) shares were up more than half a percent, despite the automaker reporting a sharp decline in sales for the second quarter. The group continues to struggle with supply chain problems and a persistent shortage of computer chips. In addition, the promised quarterly profit fell well short of the consensus estimate./gl/men
–
