Equities New York Outlook: Losses – US jobs report fuels interest rate fears | 8/5/22

NEW YORK (dpa-AFX) – A surprisingly strong American labor market report is likely to push the US stock exchanges into the red on Friday. Half an hour before the start of trading, the broker IG valued the Dow Jones Industrial (Dow Jones 30 Industrial) 0.6 percent lower at 32,519 points and the NASDAQ 100 1.3 percent down to 13,134 points. The day before, the leading index had ultimately recorded a moderate loss, while the technology-heavy selection index had gained something.

The US economy created significantly more jobs than expected in July. In addition, the increase in employment in the two previous months was revised upwards. During the Corona crisis, the labor market collapsed dramatically at times. It has now recovered significantly and companies are complaining about a shortage of workers. Wages also increased slightly more than expected again, while the unemployment rate fell to its pre-coronavirus level.

All of this fueled fears on the market of further rampant inflation, which could prompt the US Federal Reserve to tighten its monetary policy – with the associated risks for economic development.

Meanwhile, the company’s agenda looks a little more manageable after the recent flood of figures. The vacuum and washing robot manufacturer iRobot could benefit from the takeover by Amazon. The world’s largest online retailer is buying the company for a total of around $1.7 billion in cash including debt, which iRobot is valuing at $61 a share – up 22 percent from Thursday’s closing price. Premarket, iRobot stock jumped nearly 20 percent to $59.90. The Amazon papers gave way moderately.

Lyft shareholders were pleased with a share price increase of almost 5 percent after the transport service provider beat expectations with a record high adjusted operating profit (Ebitda) in the second quarter. A strong interim report and a good outlook for the DoorDash food delivery service caused the price to rise by 2.7 percent.

In contrast, Amgen titles fell by almost two percent, although the biotech group had earned and implemented more than experts expected thanks to strong drug sales in the second quarter.

Tesla’s shares lost 1.7 percent. The fact that the electric car manufacturer’s shareholders approved the US electric car manufacturer’s second stock split in around two years did not help at first. It was initially unclear when the planned 1:3 split should take place. Stock splits don’t actually change a company’s market value, but they do lower the price per share. The papers can thus become more attractive, especially for small investors, even if many brokers are already offering to buy shares proportionately./gl/men

–