NEW YORK (dpa-AFX) – The New York stock exchanges are heading for a conciliatory end to a mixed week. Market observers identified positive economic data, positive news for the banking sector and the rapid corona vaccination campaign in the United States as price support.
Most recently, the leading index Dow Jones Industrial rose by 0.54 percent to 32,794.36 points. This shows a week plus of a good half a percent for him. For the market-wide S&P 500, it rose by 0.57 percent to 3931.90 points on Friday. Both standard value indices ultimately defied a phase of weakness on Thursday. The technology-heavy Nasdaq 100 moved up 0.15 percent to 12,800.07 meters after the moderate losses of the previous day.
As the consumer sentiment surveyed by the University of Michigan demonstrated, the consumer confidence in the US brightened significantly in March and reached its highest level in a year. Both expectations and consumer assessments of the situation improved significantly. The university attributed the increases to progress in the corona vaccination campaign and government support payments.
At the same time, the slightly lower than expected increase in personal consumption expenditure (PCE) for February supported the Fed’s assessment that inflationary pressures in the economy have so far been limited. This means that the monetary authorities are not under pressure to have to raise interest rates anytime soon, which would reduce the attractiveness of the equities asset class compared to fixed-income securities.
On Thursday after the market closed, the Fed also announced that it would lift its corona-related restrictions on dividends and share buybacks by banks at the end of June. However, the initial euphoria subsided somewhat in the sector.
In addition, there were statements from US President Joe Biden, who had doubled the vaccination target for his campaign the day before. Instead of 100, 200 million doses are now to be injected in the first 100 days of his term of office. The fact that this is well received by market participants is primarily due to their hope of a quick return to a pandemic-free and recovering economy.
The shares of the oil companies Chevron and Exxon Mobil profited with gains of around one and a half percent each from the fact that the ongoing blockade of the Suez Canal after the wreck of a freighter recently caused oil prices to rise. Despite ongoing efforts by tugs and other equipment, there is still no progress in the salvage work. The Japanese owner hopes to get the freighter free this weekend.
The papers of the tobacco company Altria benefited with almost three and a half percent plus from a positive study: The analysis company Jefferies upgraded them and is now advising to buy./gl/he
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