NEW YORK (dpa-AFX) – The optimism about a possible relaxation in the Russian war against Ukraine has disappeared and with it the good mood on the US stock exchanges. Around two hours before the close of trading on Wednesday, the Dow Jones Industrial lost 0.34 percent to 35,174.37 points after a directionless start. The S&P 500 fell 0.52 percent to 44,607.36 points. The Nasdaq 100, which is predominantly stocked with technology stocks, lost 0.49 percent to 15,164.77 points.
On Tuesday, signs of rapprochement between the warring parties had caused oil prices to fall significantly. However, the Russian announcement to reduce combat operations near Kyiv is met with skepticism in Ukraine and in the West. On Wednesday, Russia spoke of the fact that no breakthrough had yet been achieved in the negotiations. This in turn caused crude oil prices to rise again, along with renewed fears of a recession.
The jobs data from the private sector, which is an indication for the monthly jobs report on Friday, had little impact on sentiment. The US private sector, for example, created more jobs in March, although the increase in jobs was only slightly lower than in the previous month.
Among the individual values, Apple gave way after a friendly start to trading and lost 0.3 percent to 178.50 US dollars. The iPhone maker’s stock has recovered so much over the past eleven trading days that it’s already heading towards a record high again. It reached $182.94 in early January, becoming the first company to break the $3 trillion mark in market value.
Home Depot brought up the bottom of the Dow, down 2.9 percent, while Unitedhealth rose 1.3 percent, among the top performers in the Wall Street Index. The health insurer had announced the day before that it wanted to take over the LHC Group, which specializes in home care. As a result, the share fell moderately in the strong overall market.
Investors also focused on the shares of Biontech, which rose by 5.4 percent on the Nasdaq. The corona vaccine manufacturer significantly exceeded the previous year’s values with important performance indicators in 2021. The company also reiterated the sales target range for its Covid-19 vaccine this year and plans to launch a share buyback program of up to $1.5 billion. A special dividend of EUR 2 per share is also planned.
Later, the shares of Baidu also came into focus, which fell by 2.2 percent on the Nasdaq after initial gains. The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) put the Chinese search engine operator on the list of companies at risk of being delisted because the Chinese government refuses to allow US officials to see the work of its auditors
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