The stock exchanges in New York closed with deep red numbers on Thursday. Biotechnologist Novavax fell sharply after reports that the FDA could take longer to approve the company’s corona vaccine. Wall Street also focused on the interest rate decision of the European Central Bank (ECB), which indicated in July that it would raise interest rates for the first time since 2011. They also looked forward to the important US inflation figure coming Friday. Inflation plays an important role in the Federal Reserve’s interest rate policy. The central bank is already raising interest rates to combat high inflation.
Novavax plunged more than 17 percent. The FDA would first like to look at the production processes for the corona vaccine. The stock rose just the day before after an FDA panel recommended that Novavax’s vaccine be approved for adults in the United States. Industry colleague Moderna was almost 10 percent lower.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average was 1.9 percent lower at 32,272.79 points. The broad S&P 500 fell 2.4 percent to 4017.82 points and the technology gauge Nasdaq lost 2.8 percent to 11,754.23 points.
Tesla returned a price gain from earlier in the day and ended 0.9 percent lower. The Swiss bank UBS has issued a buying recommendation for the manufacturer of electric cars. Other large tech funds had a much more difficult time. For example, Amazon, Facebook mother Meta and Apple lost up to 6.4 percent.
Online shopping group Alibaba fell more than 8 percent. Bloomberg news agency reported on the basis of insiders that the Chinese authorities may be able to give the green light for the IPO of Ant Group, the payment company of Alibaba. In 2020, Alibaba had to cancel Ant’s IPO at the last minute and regulators opened a cartel investigation into the group. The regulator said in a response to the message that a review of Ant’s IPO is not being worked on.
Nio fell 7.7 percent after disappointing results and prospects from the Chinese manufacturer of electric cars. Jeweler chain Signet Jewelers came with better than expected figures and gained 9 percent.
The euro was worth $1.0613, against $1.0663 at the close of trading in Europe. A barrel of US oil cost 0.7 percent less at $121.19. Brent oil became 0.6 percent cheaper at $122.80 a barrel.
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