NEW YORK (awp international) – After the eagerly awaited minutes of the most recent central bank meeting, the US stock markets were able to largely make up for losses on Wednesday. The Dow Jones Industrial, which was down almost one percent before the Minutes were published, ended up 0.16 percent down at 34,934.27 points. The Fed protocol did not fuel the already high expectations in terms of interest rate increases on the markets, said a stockbroker.
The US Federal Reserve is obviously about to raise interest rates for the first time in the corona pandemic. It will soon be appropriate to raise the key interest rate, which is at zero, according to the minutes. The reason given is the high level of inflation, which is currently well above the Fed’s target of two percent. The central bank also cites future inflation risks and the robust labor market as reasons for rising interest rates.
The market-wide S&P 500 closed 0.09 percent higher at 4475.01 points. The tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 fell 0.12 percent to 14,603.64 points.
In early trading, the Ukraine conflict weighed on US stock markets. The relief on Wall Street at signs of easing in the conflict has already evaporated. According to NATO findings, Russia is continuing its troop deployment in the border area with Ukraine, contrary to other announcements. The US government also sees no signs of an end to the Russian troop deployment on the border with Ukraine.
Kraft Heinz shares topped the S&P 500 with a premium of 5.6 percent. The food maker more than offset rising costs with higher prices for its products in the fourth quarter of 2021.
On the other hand, the shares of ViacomCBS experienced a course disaster, they collapsed by almost 18 percent. The media group has recently grown strongly in the streaming business. However, the investments for this growth are depressing the results.
Semiconductor manufacturer Analog Devices reported a decline in earnings for the fiscal first quarter, but still performed better than expected. The course advanced by almost four percent.
The apartment broker Airbnb posted strong business growth at the end of the year despite the burden of the rampant coronavirus variant Omikron. This caused the price to rise by 3.7 percent. In their wake, the shares of the online travel portal Booking also rose by 2.6 percent.
Fed minutes weigh on US dollar and support euro. The shared currency was trading at $1.1381 in late US trade. The European Central Bank had previously set the reference rate at 1.1372 (Tuesday: 1.1345) dollars. The dollar had thus cost 0.8794 (0.8815) euros.
On the US bond market, prices rose slightly after the Fed minutes. The futures contract for ten-year Treasuries (T-Note Future) rose by 0.17 percent to 125.95 points. In return, the yield on ten-year government bonds fell moderately to 2.03 percent./bek/he
— By Benjamin Krieger, dpa-AFX —
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