NEW YORK (awp international) – After the clear losses of the previous day, the US stock markets should go on a recovery course on Wednesday thanks to somewhat easing geopolitical tensions. The broker IG appraised the Dow Jones Industrial just under an hour before the start of trading, up 0.56 percent at 33,784 points. The day before, the Dow had lost a good 1.4 percent. IG expected the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 to be around 1.0 percent higher on Wednesday.
The stock exchanges should receive positive impetus from the news that Russian President Vladimir Putin had declared that Moscow was ready to seek “diplomatic solutions” in the conflict with Ukraine.
Meanwhile, the US and Europe have responded to Moscow’s recent escalation in the Ukraine crisis with a package of penalties. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken canceled a planned meeting with his Russian colleague Sergey Lavrov. The United States continues to expect a large-scale attack by Russia on neighboring Ukraine.
From an industry perspective, stocks from the retail sector could be in focus after some retail chains reported on their recent business development. TJX Companies earned $940 million in the fourth quarter, compared to $325 million a year earlier. The jump in profits was apparently not strong enough for investors, and the shares fell by 5.8 percent in pre-market trading.
In contrast, home improvement retailer Lowe’s beat Wall Street sales expectations and raised its outlook for 2022. The papers rose premarket by 3.9 percent.
Tupperware Brands shares lost 7.6 percent pre-market. The maker of kitchen storage boxes reported an increase in profits for the fourth quarter. However, quarterly sales fell by almost 12 percent./edh/jha/
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