(ABM FN-Dow Jones) Wall Street ended mostly higher on Friday. The S&P 500 index rose fractionally at 3,901.36 points. The Dow Jones index rose slightly at 31,261.90 points. The Nasdaq ended 0.3 percent in the red on Friday at 11,354.62 points.
Friday initially appeared to be a recovery. Investors reacted positively to an interest rate cut by the Chinese central bank. Subsequently, the markets sank and the S&P even appeared to enter a bear market. A late turnaround in New York prevented that.
Equity markets came under pressure this week amid concerns about the
global economy and a possible recession. Investors are wondering how aggressively the Federal Reserve will respond to China’s high inflation and corona lockdowns. The latter is causing a slowdown in growth and persistent problems in the supply chain.
The disappointing quarterly reports from retailers such as Walmart, Kohl’s and Target also raise fears of a recession.
“Stock markets remain shaky. The list of investor concerns is growing,” said Fawad Razaqzada, market analyst at City Index and Forex.com.
“Inflation. Interest rate hikes. Low economic growth. Stagflation. Recession. Perhaps most importantly for equities: the Fed is not there to provide buffer, as it used to be,” said the market expert.
The Dow Jones index lost more than 3 percent this week and is now in the longest loss series in 90 years. The S&P and Nasdaq lost 3.5 and 4.5 percent respectively this week.
The euro/dollar was trading at 1.0556 Friday evening.
The oil price rose slightly on Friday. At a settlement of USD 110.28, a barrel of West Texas Intermediate became almost half a percent more expensive. On a weekly basis, the oil price remained virtually stable.
Company news
Applied Materials posted less than expected profits in the second quarter of its current fiscal year, partly due to ongoing supply chain problems. The outlook was also disappointing, on which the share was already under pressure after trading on Thursday. On Friday, the stock lost 4 percent.
Deere raised its outlook after stronger-than-expected numbers in the second quarter of its current broken fiscal year. The stock still fell 14 percent.
Growth stocks were under pressure on Friday. Nvidia lost 2.5 percent and Tesla 6.5 percent.
After heavy losses earlier this week, Walmart and Target closed higher on Friday.
Bron: ABM Financial News
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From Beursplein 5, the editors of ABM Financial News keep a close eye on developments on the stock exchanges, and the Amsterdam stock exchange in particular. The information in this column is not intended as professional investment advice or as a recommendation to make certain investments.
