new York Corporate balance sheets supported Wall Street on Thursday. The Dow Jones index of standard values opened 0.2 percent higher at 33,382 points. The broader S&P 500 gained half a percent to 4075 points. The index of the technology exchange Nasdaq climbed by one percent to 11,972 places.
According to analysts, business results from giants such as Facebook parent Meta have outweighed economic fears after weak US growth data and banking concerns after figures from the US regional bank First Republic. “For the past 36 hours, markets have been in a tug-of-war between the US tech industry, which is aggressively rising, and the still-shaky fundamentals of US regional banks,” said Jim Reid, Analyst at Deutsche Bank.
Meta’s stock jumped 14.5 percent to $239.57, its highest since February 2022. Facebook parent company on Wednesday reported its first revenue surge in nearly a year, driven by continued improvements in its advertising business.
In the USA, gross domestic product from January to March increased by only 1.1 percent on an annual basis. It has thus more than halved compared to the fourth quarter of 2022. Economists surveyed by the Reuters news agency had expected an increase of 2.0 percent.
“Without private consumption, the economic downturn would have been even greater. But the burdens will also increase for private consumption,” said analyst Bastian Hepperle from the private bank Hauck Aufhäuser Lampe.
Look at other individual values
Caterpillar: The US construction machinery manufacturer increased its profit thanks to high demand and price increases. This was not least due to the US construction industry, which was encouraged to spend more due to the government’s infrastructure laws. Caterpillar’s construction equipment business saw sales up 33 percent in North America. On Wall Street, the stock is down 4.8 percent.
First Republic Bank: The shares of the ailing San Francisco bank are able to stop the downward trend and are trading unchanged. The stock shed about 60 percent of its value this week after the company said Monday it lost about $100 billion in deposits in the first quarter.
Eli Lilly: The US pharmaceutical company has raised its sales and profit forecast due to strong demand for its diabetes drug Mounjaro. In addition, the company has applied for approval of Mounjaro for obesity treatment in the United States. According to Lilly, a possible approval could take place as early as the end of 2023. Overall, however, the company missed analysts’ expectations of $1.73 with earnings per share of $1.62 in the first quarter. The share rose by 4.2 percent.
Hilton: The hotel giant has raised its full-year outlook after beating analysts’ expectations for the first three months of the year. The shares give but 0.7 percent.
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