Stock markets in New York closed on Monday with losses. Investors on Wall Street were cautious ahead of the Federal Reserve’s rate decision later this week. Uncertainty about the Omikron variant of the coronavirus also flared up again. Apple was in the spotlight as the tech company approached the $3 trillion market cap milestone, but later had to give up ground.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended 0.9 percent lower at 35,650.95 points. The broad S&P 500 fell 0.9 percent to 4,668.97 points and the technology exchange Nasdaq lost 1.4 percent to 15,413.28 points. Last week, strong price gains were made by the American main indicators.
The Fed will begin its two-day policy meeting on Tuesday. High inflation has increased pressure on the US central bank to accelerate the phasing out of the bailout program and raise interest rates. Last Friday it emerged that inflation in the United States in November reached its highest level in almost 40 years.
Apple fell 2.1 percent to $175.74 a share. To reach the market value of $3 trillion, the exchange rate needs to hit $182.86. In 2018, Apple was the first to pass the $1 trillion barrier and in 2020 the iPhone maker was the first to be worth more than $2 trillion.
Businesses in the tourism sector were troubled by concerns about Omikron and the news of a first death from the variant in the United Kingdom. For example, Delta Air Lines, American Airlines and United Airlines fell by up to 5 percent, as did cruise lines Carnival, Royal Caribbean and Norwegian Cruise Line.
Harley-Davidson won nearly 5 percent. The company wants to bring its electric motorcycle division LiveWire to the stock market through a merger with an empty stock shell. Harley will remain the majority owner of that new publicly traded company.
Pharmaceutical Pfizer (plus 4.6 percent) came with takeover news. The maker of corona vaccines is putting $6.7 billion on the table to take over industry rival Arena Pharmaceuticals. Arena shares shot up 80 percent as a result of the deal. This biotech company is active in, among other things, products against inflammatory diseases.
The euro was worth $1.1284, against $1.1297 at the close in Europe. A barrel of US oil fell 0.5 percent to $71.33. Brent oil became 0.8 percent cheaper at $74.49 a barrel.
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