NEW YORK (dpa-AFX) – After a bumpy start due to weak economic data, the US stock exchanges started moving forward again on Thursday. The Dow Jones Industrial (Dow Jones 30 Industrial), which was down 0.7 percent in early trade, turned positive and was last up 1.12 percent to 32,557.50 points. It thus reached its highest level in seven weeks. Equities received support from bond trading, where capital market interest rates fell.
Economic output (GDP) in the United States fell by 0.9 percent on an annualized basis in the second quarter. Since the US economy shrank by an annualized 1.6 percent in the first quarter, the definition of a technical recession is met. This is what economists talk about when economic output falls two quarters in a row.
“Gross domestic product contracted in the first half, but job growth was strong,” noted Tiffany Wilding, economist at wealth manager Pimco. The expert did not want to speak of a recession just yet, but one is probably not far away. The economy is already suffering under the burden of tighter financial conditions and higher prices.
The market-wide S&P 500 rose by 1.17 to 4070.84 points. The tech-heavy NASDAQ 100 rose 0.85 percent to 12,706.87 points after jumping more than 4 percent on Wednesday. With a view to the individual values, the quarterly reports and forecasts of the companies continued to determine what was happening. The Facebook group Meta (Meta Platforms (ex Facebook)) had recorded its first decline in sales. The development is tantamount to the end of an era: Since the IPO in 2012, things have only gone up rapidly. Meta shares lost more than six percent.
The chip manufacturer QUALCOMM anticipates lower consumer spending in view of the economic weakness, which should also affect many products with semiconductors. These cautious statements broke the stock a minus of four percent.
After severe losses in early trading, the papers of the pharmaceutical companies Pfizer and Merck & Co (Merck) were able to pull themselves together. The former were slightly up and the latter still fell by 0.8 percent. While Pfizer is struggling with unfavorable exchange rates, dealers at Merck & Co spoke of profit-taking. The price had risen by almost 20 percent since the beginning of the year.
The shares of Ford (Ford Motor) and Harley Davidson fared better with premiums of 5.2 and 7.4 percent, respectively. The automaker’s second-quarter earnings far surpassed expectations. Despite problems in the supply chains, the motorcycle manufacturer acted much more productively in the second quarter than expected on the market.
Southwest Airlines (Southwest Airlines) continues to face high costs while complaining about delayed aircraft deliveries by Boeing. The share price then slipped by 6.2 percent.
Jetblue Airways is acquiring low-cost carrier Spirit Airlines for at least $3.8 billion in cash. While Jetblue fell 2.1 percent, Spirit Airlines gained 5 percent./bek/he
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