Frankfort, New York The renewed increase in US inflation is hitting Wall Street. The major US indices closed in the red on Thursday. The Dow Jones is down 0.34 percent at 33,174 points. The market broader S&P 500 lost 0.42 percent and closed at 4259 points, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq slipped almost one percent to 13,129 points.
US consumer prices rose 7.9 percent in February, the highest in 40 years. Experts surveyed by Bloomberg had previously expected an inflation rate of 7.8 percent. The inflation rate was above economists’ expectations for the sixth time in seven months. In January it was still 7.5 percent.
“While it could be assumed until recently that inflation rates would fall, the war in Ukraine has changed the situation noticeably,” said Thomas Gitzel, Chief Economist at VP Bank.
The high inflation puts the Federal Reserve under pressure to raise interest rates promptly. However, the frequency and extent of the increases are still unclear. The next Fed meeting is scheduled for next week.
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Against this background, technology stocks such as Apple, Google’s mother Alphabet or Facebook’s mother Meta came under pressure, whose shares fell by up to 2.7 percent by the end of trading. According to experts, higher interest rates will devalue the future profits of these high-growth companies.
Bucking the industry trend, Amazon’s stocks gained more than five percent. The online retailer wants to become more attractive to small investors through a stock split and buy back its own shares with a volume of ten billion dollars. The 20-for-1 stock split follows a similar move by Google’s parent Alphabet earlier this year and fueled debate over whether Amazon or Alphabet could become members of the Dow Jones index.
Look at other individual values
Wheels Up Experience: The private airliner reported a quarterly loss of 31 cents a share, six cents more than the consensus estimate. Revenue, however, came in well ahead of estimates at $345 million, up 64 percent from a year earlier. The number of active customers increased by 31 percent. Wheels Up shares are down more than 8 percent.
crowd strike: The shares rose 12.5 percent after the company reported better-than-expected quarterly profit and sales. The cybersecurity company also gave an upbeat forecast for 2022.
JD.com: The company reported better-than-expected earnings and sales for its most recent quarter as more customers used its e-commerce platform. However, the China-based company also reported the slowest revenue growth since early 2020. JD.Com stock slipped just under 17 percent.
Genesco: Also the Footwear and accessories retailer reported better-than-expected quarterly sales and profit, with same-store sales up 10 percent and e-commerce sales up 36 percent year-over-year. The stock climbs 11 percent.
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