NEW YORK (dpa-AFX) – Investors on the US stock market viewed signals that Russia was willing to continue talking about the Ukraine conflict only slightly positively on Monday. The Dow Jones Industrial (Dow Jones 30 Industrial) briefly made the leap into the profit zone, but around two hours before the end of trading it was again down one percent at 34,389.74 points. Worries about a possible invasion of Ukraine by Russia are far from gone. In addition, the tightening of monetary policy by the US Federal Reserve remains a dominant topic.
The market-wide S&P 500 fell by almost one percent to 4375.44 points. The NASDAQ 100, which was recently particularly badly hit by technology stocks, held up a little better with minus 0.66 percent to 14,157.83 points.
In the past few days, the situation in the Ukraine conflict had deteriorated further. In particular, the warnings from the US government that Russia could attack the neighboring country as early as this week had unsettled investors at the start of the week. According to official statements, the USA considers a Russian attack on Ukraine possible at any time.
“I think we all have to be prepared that it could happen with little or no warning,” Defense Department spokesman John Kirby told CNN on Monday. When asked about the likelihood of an invasion, referring to Russian President Vladimir Putin, Kirby replied: “I think Mr. Putin is the only one who knows the answer to that.”
In the meantime, however, the Russian government has signaled further willingness to talk. According to Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, Russia continued to exchange letters with NATO and the USA. It also deals with his country’s demands not to include Ukraine in NATO.
In addition to this geopolitical conflict, the turnaround in interest rates in the USA remains the dominant topic on the financial markets. In the second half of last week, yet another surprisingly high US inflation rate and calls from a prominent central banker to raise interest rates by a full percentage point by July dragged Wall Street lower. Tech stocks in particular suffered.
Some economists now consider it conceivable that the US Federal Reserve will raise interest rates at each of the remaining meetings this year. The Dow fell by almost four percent in the past two and a half trading days, and the Nasdaq 100 by almost six percent.
Analyst Clemens Schmale from the Godmode-Trader stock exchange portal expects further pressure on prices in view of the upcoming rate hike cycle, because the withdrawal of liquidity is only just beginning. The Fed will continue to buy bonds and mortgage securities in February and the key interest rate will in all likelihood remain untouched until March. In addition: “The economic outlook was also better.” If the Fed doesn’t get cold feet after all, the stock markets are likely to remain battered.
Looking at individual stocks, shares in bank JPMorgan (JPMorgan ChaseCo) were among the losers in the Dow Jones. They fell by around two percent after the analysts at the investment house Jefferies canceled their buy recommendation. You see more potential at other banks due to the soon-to-be rising US interest rates. Higher interest rates are good for banks’ traditional deposit and lending business. At the bottom of the Dow, however, were the papers of the drugstore and pharmacy chain Walgreens (Walgreens Boots Alliance) Boots Alliance with a minus of a good three percent.
Walt Disney stocks were among the few winners in the Dow. They rose by almost one percent at the top of the index. The leisure and entertainment group surprised positively with strong business figures last week, but was only able to escape the generally poor mood on the stock market to a limited extent.
Shares in fitness services provider Peloton fell more than 6 percent. Here, the recent takeover fantasy escaped a bit after a corresponding interview with the new boss Barry McCarthy in the “Financial Times”.
Meanwhile, the US state of Texas is suing the Facebook group Meta (Meta Platforms (ex Facebook)) for its handling of biometric data. Meta’s shares fell 1.8 percent.
The papers of corona vaccine manufacturers Pfizer, Biontech (BioNTech (ADRs)) and Moderna got into sometimes difficult waters, losing between around 3 and almost 13 percent. After the course multiplied in the course of the pandemic, Biontech and Moderna have been under pressure for some time, as the corona situation is beginning to ease in many countries and the vaccines are therefore less in demand. The shares of Biontech partner Pfizer had also increased significantly in the wake of the pandemic.
Meanwhile, the shares of the data and reporting specialist Splunk rose by eight percent against the negative market environment. The “Wall Street Journal” had reported on a takeover bid by the network giant Cisco, citing people familiar with the matter. Its shares fell by 1.80 percent.
Goodyear (Goodyear TireRubber), meanwhile, rose by one and a half percent after the US bank JPMorgan issued a buy recommendation
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