Dow Jones and Nasdaq End Week on a Mixed Note Amidst Consumer Concerns and Bond Market Volatility

NEW YORK (dpa-AFX) – At the end of a sluggish week, the Dow Jones Industrial made up for the losses it had made over the course of Friday. Thanks to a final spurt, the leading index closed almost unchanged at minus 0.03 percent to 33,300.62 points. On a weekly basis, it lost 1.1 percent.

The Nasdaq 100 on Friday fell 0.37 percent to 13,340.18 points from its recent highest level since August 2022. However, the technology-heavy index still managed a weekly plus of 0.6 percent. The market-wide S&P 500
closed 0.16 percent weaker on Friday at 4124.08 points.

Sentiment deteriorated among US consumers. The consumer climate for May surveyed by the University of Michigan fell more sharply than economists had expected. Consumers’ longer-term inflation expectations over a five- to ten-year horizon also rose, while economists predicted a slight decline here.

As a result, yields on the bond market rose. The rate for ten-year papers was 3.46 percent. The futures contract for ten-year bonds (T-Note Future) lost 0.54 percent to 115.42 points.

Consumers’ economic concerns have increased sharply, said Joanne Hsu, head of the consumer sentiment survey. She also referred to the argument in Congress about raising the debt ceiling. If this is not raised, according to estimates by the independent budget office of the US Congress, the government in Washington is threatened with a payment default in the first two weeks of June.

In the worst conceivable case, the financial markets are threatened with collapse, wrote analyst Christian Henke from broker IG. But both the Democrats and the Republicans would probably avoid a default and turmoil on the capital markets at the latest five to twelve, the expert believes.

Bei Tesla investors had to weigh positive and negative news before the weekend. The electric car manufacturer had increased prices for the third time this month. However, the news of a recall of 1.1 million vehicles in China due to defective brakes did not go down well.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk was also in focus with messages from the short message service Twitter, which he also leads. After a chaotic six months, he puts the top post at Twitter in the hands of advertising expert Linda Yaccarino, who most recently managed the advertising business at the media group NBCUniversal. Tesla shares quickly gave up their opening gains on Friday, down 2.4 percent at the close.

The papers of the IT group IBM settled in the Dow
to the top with a gain of 1.6 percent. On the other hand, shares in the sporting goods manufacturer Nike closed 1.6 percent down which ended up in last place in the leading index.

The Euro slipped to its lowest level in over a month at $1.0849. After the US market close, the shared currency traded just above at $1.0851. The European Central Bank (ECB) had set the reference rate on Friday at 1.0892 (Thursday: 1.0930) dollars, the dollar thus cost 0.9181 (0.9149) euros./ajx/zb

— By Achim Jüngling, dpa-AFX —

 ISIN  US2605661048  US6311011026  US78378X1072

AXC0344 2023-05-12/22:34

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