NEW YORK (awp international) – Supported by statements on the economic situation by US Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, US stock markets continued their recent recovery on Wednesday. The Dow Jones Industrial was last listed 0.4 percent higher at 30,648 points, after having been 1.2 percent in the red at the start of trading. The market-wide S&P 500 recently rose by 0.5 percent to 3784 points. The technology stock-heavy Nasdaq 100 gained 0.7 percent to 11,623 points.
In his regular testimony before the US Senate, Powell reiterated his commitment to curbing inflation. The US economy is very strong and can cope with a tighter monetary policy, emphasized the Fed chief. He also pointed out that the interest rate hikes already priced in by the financial markets were appropriate.
However, market participants doubt whether the Fed will be able to protect the economy from a severe crash given the rapid turnaround in interest rates. Falling oil prices are currently reflecting recession fears. The high price gains of oil companies the day before have already disappeared again. Chevron shares were among the weakest on the Dow, down 3.3 percent. ExxonMobil stocks lost 2.5 percent.
Altria’s papers had to accept even higher losses of minus 10 percent. As the “Wall Street Journal” reports, the US health authority FDA is about to ban the e-cigarettes from the Altria holding Juul Labs from the US market. Critics accuse Juul, among other things, of having made many children and young people addicted to nicotine with its products. Altria spent nearly $13 billion in 2018 to acquire a 35 percent stake in Juul.
In contrast, Zoom’s shares rose by 2.0 percent. The video conferencing software provider has launched a new product called “Zoom One”./edh/mis
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