New York shares outlook: Biden euphoria gives way to corona worries again

NEW YORK (dpa-AFX) – Weak business figures from the technology industry are likely to weigh on the record-hungry Wall Street on Friday. In early trading, investors also expect economic data from the world’s largest economy.

Almost three quarters of an hour before the stock market launch, broker IG estimated the Dow Jones Industrial almost 0.7 percent lower at 30,968 points. The best-known American stock index is still heading for a weekly profit of half a percent. Like the other major indices, it climbed to a new record on Thursday, but then closed just below the red. The technology exchange Nasdaq, which had largely maintained its profits the day before, is also threatened with price losses before the weekend.

Slowly but surely, the euphoria about Joe Biden’s assumption of office is giving way to corona worries again. In addition, the new US president’s plans for a huge new stimulus package to combat the effects of the pandemic are meeting with resistance in the Senate. His Democratic Party has a slim majority there thanks to the vote of Biden’s Vice-President Kamala Harris. For many measures, however, Biden is dependent on dissenters from the ranks of the Republicans.

Intel’s shares lost more than five percent on Friday, even though the chip company had significantly exceeded business expectations in the past quarter, as it became known on Thursday after trading ended. However, stocks had already risen sharply before that and temporarily reached their highest level in June.

The computer veteran IBM had meanwhile reported a mixed business development after yesterday’s closing bell: Surprisingly good results were offset by a clearer than expected drop in sales. The shares slumped by more than eight percent before the market.

Before the start of trading, Schlumberger saw a minus of almost two and a half percent. The fact that the oil field service provider surprised positively with earnings per share despite a decline in sales did not help the shares, which were already very weak on Thursday. Like oil giants Chevron and Exxon Mobil, they suffered from negative industry sentiment as oil prices visibly widened their early losses./gl/jha/

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