NEW YORK (awp international) – The US stock markets presented themselves without a clear direction in trading on Thursday. Disappointing US services sentiment data wiped out early gains. There is still no relaxation in the Ukraine crisis. Despite renewed negotiations between Russia and Ukraine, Russian airstrikes on the neighboring country intensified. This, coupled with Western sanctions against Russia, pushed oil prices to their highest level since 2008 and fueled renewed fears of a recession.
The Dow Jones Industrial was last listed 0.26 percent higher at 33,979.53 points. The market-wide S&P 500 stagnated at the previous day’s level. The technology-heavy selection index Nasdaq 100, on the other hand, fell by 0.76 percent to 14135.12 points.
Sentiment in the US service sector deteriorated significantly in February. The purchasing manager index of the Institute for Supply Management (ISM) fell by 3.4 points to 56.5 points compared to January. Analysts, on the other hand, had expected an improvement to an average of 61.0 points.
Other economic data, on the other hand, were positive. US industrial companies received more orders than expected in January. In addition, the situation on the labor market – measured by the number of weekly initial applications for unemployment benefits – improved more than forecast. Furthermore, the productivity of the US economy recovered significantly in the final quarter of 2021 from the decline in the summer months.
On the company side, there were a few quarterly reports that caused major price movements. The latest annual figures and the medium-term outlook of the electronics retailer Best Buy were very well received by investors. The shares rose by around eleven percent.
Kroger’s shares also rose by around eleven percent after the supermarket chain had done better than expected in terms of earnings last year. In addition, the company’s targets for the new financial year exceeded market forecasts./edh/he
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