The “Fearless Girl” on New York’s Wall Street
(Photo: AP)
new York Fear of rapid interest rate hikes by the US Federal Reserve continues to have investors on Wall Street in its grip. Mixed company balance sheets also weighed on the mood on Tuesday. The leading indices Dow Jones, Nasdaq and S&P 500 fell by up to two percent at the opening.
“We live in a world where most market participants have never seen a rate hike cycle,” said equity trader Keith Temperton of brokerage house Forte Securities. “All they know is a Fed pumping money into the markets. So this is a shock now.”
The stock market is certain that the Fed will announce a rate hike for March on Wednesday. Some investors even expect an increase of half a percentage point instead of a quarter.
Mike Wilson, an analyst at Morgan Stanley, believes that the recent slide may continue for the next three to four weeks. His outlook on the stock markets would not be constructive again until the S&P slipped below the 4,000 mark. That would mean a minus of more than ten percent.
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General Electric (GE) was one of the losers on the US stock market with a price loss of 6.1 percent. The Siemens rival’s quarterly sales of $20.3 billion fell short of market expectations. The same applies to the profit target for 2022 of $2.80 to $3.50 per share, complained analyst Gautam Khanna from asset manager Cowen.
>> Read here our analysis: The debate about US monetary policy is becoming increasingly heated. A conversation between economists Krugman and Summers also provides information.
Like GE, 3M suffers from supply chain problems, which led to stagnant sales of $8.6 billion and a 4.7 percent drop in profits to $1.34 billion for the conglomerate. However, analysts had feared even greater burdens. Therefore, the titles of the provider of “Post-It Notes” increased 0.4 percent.
Look at other individual values
American Express: Record card spending helped the company post better-than-expected fourth-quarter earnings and sales. Earnings came in at $2.18 per share, well above the consensus estimate of $1.87. The stock rose 2.3 percent.
IBM: The company beat estimates by five cents a share and posted quarterly earnings of $3.35 a share. Revenue also beat expectations, reflecting the strength of IBM’s cloud computing business. IBM shares saw some volatility in after-hours trading after the company declined to provide earnings guidance. Today, Tuesday, the shares are trading unchanged in a weak market environment.
PetMed Express: The company missed consensus estimates by 9 cents with quarterly earnings of 21 cents per share. The pet products maker’s sales also fell short of analysts’ forecasts. However, the stock rose by 3.5 percent.
More: Chart technicians see further downside risks