NEW YORK (awp international) – After the monetary policy decisions of the US Federal Reserve, the US stock exchanges set new records on Thursday in some cases. After the monetary authorities had only announced the beginning of an exit from the billion-dollar security purchases the previous evening, at least the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq 100 set new records. Investors welcomed the realization that interest rates are likely to remain low for some time to come.
Affected among other things by slipping stocks from the banking sector, the Dow Jones Industrial was a negative exception. Probably the world’s best-known stock barometer remained without a new record. Two hours before the end, the leading index fell 0.31 percent to 36,044.46 points.
The S&P 500, on the other hand, rose 0.33 percent to 4675.72 points, while the technology-heavy Nasdaq 100 even gained 1.35 percent to 16,361.97 points. The growth stocks from the tech sector are generally valued by investors as particularly beneficiaries of low interest rates.
As expected, the Fed is taking its foot off the gas, noted RoboMarkets’ capital market strategist Jürgen Molnar. The key interest rate will remain unaffected, something should not happen here until mid-2022 at the earliest. “So the green light from monetary policy,” said the expert. In combination with a convincing reporting season, there are currently no braking factors.
In addition, the Bank of England did not raise its key rate on Thursday despite speculation to the contrary. This put a strain on stocks from the banking sector on both sides of the Atlantic, where it is generally said that higher interest rates would be beneficial for day-to-day business, for example with loans. Goldman Sachs shares were at the bottom of the Dow with 3.5 percent. JPMorgan’s lost 2.2 percent there.
Otherwise, the Moderna shares were in the limelight, but this time negative with a price drop of 18.5 percent. The vaccine manufacturer frightened its investors with a reduced sales forecast for the corona vaccine. This was justified with longer delivery times and production bottlenecks. The shares of the competitor Biontech were affected. After the last good run, they sagged by 8.1 percent.
An opposite pole on the Nasdaq, where Moderna is listed, formed the shares of Qualcomm with a price jump of 13.7 percent. The chip company caused enthusiasm among investors with a surprisingly positive look ahead. The company expects to sell up to 550 million 5G-enabled phones this year. Qualcomm is the leading modem supplier for this technology.
The rally in the tech sector extended to the entire chip industry in the wake of the Fed decision and Qualcomm’s outlook. Above all, the papers from Nvidia were conspicuous in this with their ongoing record hunt. In doing so, they really gained momentum, as shown by a price jump of 13.5 percent to just over the 300 dollar mark. With a current market valuation of 750 billion US dollars, the chip company is heading towards the trillion threshold.
In the Dow, Merck & Co shares remained on the road to success. With a plus of 1.9 percent, they rose again to a record high. In the meantime, it has become known that a Covid-19 drug, which a good month ago also caused a sensation among stock marketers, has received its first approval in Great Britain. The drug is said to reduce the risk of hospitalization or death of patients by about half.
There were also strong price gains in the small caps area at the electric truck builder Nikola after a surprisingly good quarterly report. The usually volatile papers expanded their gain to 17 percent. The company also agreed to a $ 125 million fine to settle SEC investigations into company founder Trevor Milton./tih/zb
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