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NEW YORK (dpa-AFX) – Wall Street continued its most recent record run on Friday with a brake. Tech stocks, on the other hand, were held back by the gloomier outlook for some companies in the industry. Another burden came from recent statements by US Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, who once again signaled the beginning of an exit from the loose monetary policy. “We are well on our way to begin reducing our bond purchases,” said Powell. The so-called tapering should be completed in mid-2022 if the economy as a whole develops as expected.
The Dow Jones Industrial (Dow Jones 30 Industrial) rose to another record high at 35,765 points in early trading and was most recently 0.19 percent higher at 35,670.40 points. This indicates a weekly gain of around one percent for the US benchmark index. The market-wide S&P 500 also posted a record high, but turned into the red and recently lost 0.13 percent to 4543.65 points. The technology-heavy NASDAQ 100 dropped 0.85 percent to 15,358.32 points.
The quarterly reports from Intel and Snap, which were published the previous evening, dampened the good mood for technology stocks. Intel is being held back by the global shortage of components. Although the group was able to post increases in sales and profit in the past quarter, it scared investors away with the announcement that the business would initially run less profitably in view of the high investments in new plants. Shares fell 12 percent as the clear bottom in the Dow.
The Snap papers fared even worse, plummeting by more than 25 percent. The operator of the photo app Snapchat has been hit hard in its advertising business by Apple’s (Apple) measures for more privacy on the iPhone. Supply chain problems also had a negative impact because customers invested less in marketing. Jefferies analyst Brent Thill reckons that these difficulties will weigh on Snap’s earnings for at least another two to three quarters.
The titles of Beyond Meat suffered from a reduced sales forecast of the meat substitute producer for the third quarter and sagged by more than 14 percent. The company claims it is battling declining retail orders, operational challenges and the ongoing effects of Covid-19.
A number of other companies opened their books on Friday, including the oil field service provider Schlumberger, the conglomerate Honeywell, the household appliance manufacturer Whirlpool and American Express (Amex) (American Express). The credit card company generated more sales than expected in the past quarter and was able to increase its profit significantly thanks to higher spending by its customers. The Amex stocks were the front runners in the Dow with a gain of 6.3 percent.
Tesla’s shares continued their rally the previous day, rising 1.5 percent to a record high. The day before, the electric car manufacturer had shone with impressive business figures. “Tesla achieved records in the third quarter in terms of production, deliveries, sales and also in terms of earnings,” praised analyst Frank Schwope from Landesbank NordLB./edh/he
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