NEW YORK (dpa-AFX) – Investors in the US stock market have initially digested the horror of high inflation figures and the associated interest rate concerns to a certain extent. However, a recovery from the price setback on Thursday is hardly in sight before the weekend: the broker IG appraised the leading index Dow Jones Industrial on Friday, three quarters of an hour before the start of trading, it was 0.05 percent higher at 35,260 points, but losses had also been indicated in the meantime. His weekly plus would thus amount to almost half a percent. The tech-heavy select index Nasdaq 100 which had come under even more pressure, saw IG premarket up 0.14 percent at 14,727 points.
On Thursday it became known that consumer prices in the US had risen by a surprisingly strong 7.5 percent month-on-month in January – this means the highest inflation rate in over 40 years. It is thus still well above the two percent inflation target of the US Federal Reserve. Despite the ongoing corona pandemic, the monetary watchdogs have therefore already signaled an initial key interest rate hike in the pandemic for March and are now increasingly under pressure to act.
Pressure on stocks came Thursday after St. Louis Federal Reserve Governor James Bullard said he supported a full percentage point hike in interest rates by July.
The few price-moving company news items received mixed reviews ahead of the weekend. The sporting goods manufacturer Under Armor was not able to convince with its business figures: The shares lost more than two percent before the market after the Nike competitor had reported a drop in earnings for the past quarter. Even the increased sales target for the current quarter did not reconcile investors.
In contrast, Expedia titles rose by around six percent according to the most recent interim report, which means they should continue their record hunt. At the end of last year, the online travel company made it back into the black despite the ongoing corona pandemic. The British bank Barclays and its Swiss competitor Credit Suisse then raised their price targets for the share and confirmed their buy recommendations. Since the beginning of the year there has already been a price increase of over nine percent – the Nasdaq 100 has lost almost ten percent in the same period.
DaVita shares, which were weak the day before, rose by half a percent after the dialysis provider reported an increase in earnings and sales in the past quarter. The FMC’s lowered outlook again -Rivals, on the other hand, were not significant.
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