The “Fearless Girl” on New York’s Wall Street
(Photo: AP)
new York The US stock exchanges are on a rollercoaster ride again on Friday. Investor fears of rapidly rising interest rates are being overshadowed by strong corporate balance sheets from Apple and Visa. After initial losses, the Dow Jones index is up 0.3 percent at 34,258 points on Friday, while the broader S&P 500 is up 0.9 percent at 4,367 points. The Nasdaq technology exchange index even rose by 1.8 percent to 13,591 points. Nevertheless, the indices are heading for their fourth weekly loss in a row.
Statements by US Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, which were interpreted as a sign of a more rapid tightening of monetary policy, continue to reverberate on the financial markets. “We knew it had to happen at some point, and now that we’re moving out of that environment and into a different regime, we should expect a little more volatility,” said Darrell Spence, economist at Capital Group.
Inflation rises – oil prices rise
Central bankers are on the alert, above all, because of the high level of inflation. US consumer spending fell 0.6 percent month-on-month in December due to strong inflation, while consumer prices rose as expected by 0.5 percent over the same period.
Fears of supply disruptions are keeping prices high on the crude oil market. Due to the Ukraine crisis and the fighting on the Arabian Peninsula, among other things, the price of oil has risen by 15 percent since the beginning of the year. The analysts at ANZ Bank warned that the Opec+ countries would also have problems meeting their production quotas.
Top jobs of the day
Find the best jobs now and
be notified by email.
The reserve capacities are too small to cushion disruptions caused by geopolitical crises. The Brent variety from the North Sea rose in price by one percent to $90.17 a barrel (159 liters) and headed for the sixth weekly gain in a row.
Look at other individual values
chevrons: Investors react to the numbers with sales. The shares of the oil company fall by almost four percent. Thanks to rising oil prices, the company multiplied quarterly profits to $5.1 billion, or $2.65 per share. However, analysts had hoped for $3.12 per paper.
Hewlett Packard: The US group was right on most points in civil proceedings against tech entrepreneur Mike Lynch by a London court. HP had accused him of fraudulently inflating the value of his company before the sale. However, Lynch will have to pay far less than the five billion dollars demanded by HP. HP shares rose 1.5 percent.
The acquisition, which cost eleven billion, turned out to be a flop for the tech group: it had to write off the value of Autonomy in its books by $8.8 billion.
Stock market expert Markus Koch: “Reporting season and US monetary policy weigh heavily on Wall Street”
Caterpillar: Caterpillar shares are down more than 6 percent. The construction machinery manufacturer anticipates pressure on margins due to increases in production and higher labor costs. .
Apple: A record quarterly result brings Apple a price increase of six percent. Despite the ongoing supply chain problems and the global shortage of chips, the quarterly results clearly exceeded market expectations, praised analyst Abhinav Davuluri from the research house Morningstar. However, it will be difficult to maintain the current pace of growth as the demand boom for computers and iPads caused by the pandemic ebbs.
visas: Visa was also able to shine: the profit in the first business quarter rose compared to the previous year by 25 percent to 3.9 billion dollars. The credit card provider benefited from higher spending by US consumers. Both the volume and the number of transactions increased. Visa shares are up 8.6 percent.
Robinhood: The stock is up 5 percent. The company had warned that current-quarter revenue could be significantly lower than a year earlier. The operator of the trading platform reported a quarterly loss of 49 cents per share, four cents more than expected. Sales were slightly above the analysts’ forecasts.
Western Digital: Shares plunge more than 8 percent after the hard drive maker issued a weaker-than-expected outlook. In addition, Western Digital could not fully meet the strong demand due to problems in the supply chain. The past quarter was doing well, with the company posting adjusted earnings of $2.30 per share, up from estimates of $2.13.
More: Chart technicians see further downside risks