The Wall Street index Dow Jones Industrial US2605661048 was under relatively moderate pressure, closing 0.90 percent lower at 41,763.46 points. With a discount of 1.3 percent, October was a weak month for the stock markets.
The market-wide S&P 500 US78378X1072 fell more significantly on Thursday by 1.86 percent to 5,705.45 points. The largest daily losses were recorded by the Nasdaq 100 US6311011026, which fell by 2.44 percent to 19,890.42 points. It fell back below the 20,000 mark and reached its lowest level in more than three weeks. It ended October with a loss of 0.8 percent.
The company reporting season also provided light on Thursday, but it cast a particularly large number of shadows. Mixed economic data did not play any role in terms of price relief, as it did little to clarify the outlook for the US Federal Reserve’s monetary policy course. Regarding the US election on Tuesday, the close race between Democrat Kamala Harris and Republican Donald Trump continued to cause uncertainty.
Microsoft in particular became a burden on the US markets with a loss of six percent, while Meta’s share price fell by almost four percent. It was said that the results of technology companies were no longer sufficient to drive up share prices further. According to market observer Stephen Innes of SPI Asset Management, the statements raised doubts about whether impressive share price gains will continue. Investors are now monitoring whether bets on artificial intelligence will bring the hoped-for returns.
At Microsoft it was the biggest daily loss in two years. Analysts spoke of generally “solid figures”, measured against high standards. CFO Amy Hood said that the software company can hardly keep up with the demand for products related to artificial intelligence (AI). According to Jefferies analyst Brent Thill, the forecast for the second quarter fell short of the consensus estimate.
Regarding Facebook and Instagram parent Meta, Thill wrote that the focus here is shifting from impressive results to further increasing investments. The company is using its bubbling advertising revenue for an expensive bet on artificial intelligence and virtual worlds. The prospects of success of these measures are considered unclear and this caused uncertainty among investors.
The technology group Uber US90353T1007 was also unable to convince with its figures and statements about the fourth quarter. The shares of the online broker for driving services lost more than nine percent.
Super Micro’s titles were once an AI favorite, but that role has been outlived. With a discount of 12 percent, they continued their previous day’s slump and returned to the level of the end of 2023, i.e. before the big rally.
The shares of Estee Lauder US5184391044 were particularly severely punished, falling by 21 percent. The cosmetics company missed its annual targets due to weak business in China and wants to reduce its dividend.
In the pharmaceutical sector, Merck & Co US58933Y1055 joined the negative price reactions with a discount of 2.4 percent after the pharmaceutical company narrowed its forecast range. There was a bright spot in this industry from Bristol Myers Squibb US1101221083 with an increase of almost six percent after the profit forecast was raised.
After trading closed, the next numbers from the series of tech giants were available: Amazon US0231351067, Apple US0378331005 and Intel US4581401001. Beforehand, the price losses for these three stocks were between 1.8 and 3.5 percent. This suggests that investors are now positioning themselves more cautiously here too.
The exchange rate of the euro EU0009652759 increased moderately on Thursday. The common currency recently moved towards its daily high of 1.0882 US dollars. The European Central Bank (ECB) set the reference rate at 1.0882 (Wednesday: 1.0815) dollars. The dollar therefore cost 0.9189 euros.
On the US bond market, the futures contract for ten-year government bonds fell by 0.18 percent to 110.50 points. The yield on government securities with this term was 4.29 percent./tih/he
