NEW YORK (dpa-AFX) – The US stock exchanges are heading for further gains at the end of a strong week in late Friday trading. The Dow Jones Industrial rose 0.31 percent to 35,865.63 points two hours before the close. It expanded its previous weekly plus to 3.7 percent. The market-wide S&P 500 rose 0.61 percent on Friday to 4695.70 points.
The Nasdaq 100 even rose 0.71 percent to 16,263.52 after the tech stocks gathered there suffered from profit-taking the previous day. Strong gains in Oracle and Broadcom improved the picture in the industry. The index is currently heading for a significant weekly plus of 3.5 percent.
US inflation at the highest level since 1982 did not worry investors because, according to stockbrokers, it had roughly met expectations. The Fed thus remains under pressure to press ahead with its exit from the ultra-loose monetary policy. “If the Fed ends the bond purchases in spring 2022, it will have the leeway to raise key interest rates from summer next year,” commented analyst Birgit Henseler from DZ Bank.
The shares of the software group Oracle shot up thanks to strong quarterly figures by almost 16 percent. The SAP competitor performed better than analysts had expected in the past quarter. According to UBS analyst Karl Keirstead, the company was convincing given that other software companies had recently been rather disappointing with their results.
Oracle’s positive image spread to many other companies in the software and IT sectors. On the Dow, Microsoft and Cisco were among the biggest gainers, up 2.3 percent and 2.9 percent, respectively. Adobe stocks rose 3.1 percent on the Nasdaq.
There were also very high price gains from the chip company Broadcom with an increase of 7.4 percent. For the first time, more than 600 dollars were paid for the paper – with good numbers, a positive outlook and announced share buybacks as a driver. There was praise above all for the margin of the semiconductor group.
Meanwhile, Tesla shares continued to struggle around the $1,000 mark. First the price fell below this threshold, but then it turned positive by 1.24 percent. The market said that the share, which was still record high in November, is currently being influenced by the fact that CEO Elon Musk is continuing to sell shares.
Shares in mRNA vaccine specialists Moderna and Biontech fell 4 and 7.8 percent, respectively. According to stockbrokers, the first study data on a Moderna flu vaccine clouded the mood for shares that had been plagued by profit-taking for a long time. The market was saying that investors would have to realize from the news that mRNA technology does not work wonders in every application area.
Elsewhere, the shareholders of Peloton had to accept heavy price losses of 6.5 percent. You gradually have to fear for the last price gains since the outbreak of the corona pandemic. On Friday, the papers of the home fitness specialist lost 7.2 percent after being downgraded by Credit Suisse experts./tih/jha/
Source: dpa-AFX
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