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NEW YORK (awp international) – The US jobs report for July caused slight optimism on Wall Street and the Nasdaq stock exchanges on Friday. Some investors are interpreting the mixed jobs data as suggesting that the cycle of interest rate hikes has come to an end. However, there are also more skeptical voices. The quarterly reports from Apple and Amazon did not provide any clear impetus.
The best-known Wall Street index, the Dow Jones Industrial, rose in early trading by 0.35 percent to 35,339.54 points, which is currently a moderate loss over the course of the week. The market-wide S&P 500 gained 0.31 percent to 4515.67 points. The tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 index rose 0.25 percent to 15,391.61 points. His weekly loss is currently a little more than two percent.
The US job market painted a mixed picture in July. Although it remained robust overall, it also indicated a weakening at the same time. The increase in the number of employees has not met expectations, while the unemployment rate has fallen. Wage growth remained solid.
According to Dirk Chlench, an analyst at LBBW, a weakening that is “overdue” in view of the US Federal Reserve’s interest rate hikes in the past is slowly emerging. He therefore sees the end of the road for interest rate hikes. Ulrich Wortberg from Helaba, meanwhile, referred to the robust wage development, which is making the fight against inflation more difficult. According to him, the Fed should therefore not yet announce an end to the interest rate hikes, but rather keep all doors open.
The quarterly reporting season in the USA is now past its peak. It was particularly strong in the technology sector. According to calculations by the Bloomberg news agency, almost 90 percent of the technology companies that have presented their quarterly reports so far have exceeded the market estimates. However, Gregory Halter, Research Director at Carnegie Investment Counsel, justified the fact that this had not had a lasting effect on prices by saying that the price gains over the course of the year to date have raised valuations to levels that were last seen at a key interest rate of around zero percent.
Among the individual stocks, the focus was primarily on the heavyweights Amazon and Apple. The figures presented by the online retailer and those of the iPhone manufacturer after the stock market closed on Thursday triggered very different price reactions. While Apple, the bottom performer in the Dow, fell 3.2 percent, Amazon, one of the top stocks in the Nasdaq selection index, gained 9.5 percent to hit a 12-month high. However, Apple shares last hit a record high in July.
Amazon marked a turning point with the second quarter, wrote UBS analyst Lloyd Wamsley. The company was convincing in terms of retail sales, online services and margins. In addition, the management pointed out that the trading margins and web services still have potential for improvement. Mixed numbers were spoken of with regard to the iPhone manufacturer.
Amgen shares are up 5.1 percent on the S&P 100. The biotech group again slightly increased its sales and profit expectations (EPS) for the current financial year 2023/24 to present surprisingly strong quarterly figures./ck/he
2023-08-04 14:39:36
#Equities #York #Moderate #gains #jobs #data
