NEW YORK (awp international) – The best-known US index Dow Jones Industrial tested the 35,000 point mark again on Tuesday at the start of the reporting season. At the same time, the technology-heavy selection index Nasdaq 100 exceeded the hurdle of 14,900 points for the first time in its history, and the broad Nasdaq Composite also reached a new record high. And all of this despite the fact that the inflation rate continued to rise in June and rose to its highest level since August 2008.
In early trading, the Dow fell again, losing 0.22 percent to 34,920.17 points. The S&P 500 hardly got off the ground with plus 0.02 percent to 4385.32 points, while the Nasdaq 100 expanded its record high from the start of trading by 0.58 percent to 14,963.92 points.
In June consumer prices rose surprisingly to 5.4 percent, after inflation had already risen by 5 percent in May, well above the two percent target of the US Federal Reserve (Fed). However, because the latter assesses the increase as a temporary development, it does not want to intervene in monetary policy. However, there are growing doubts among economists as to whether the Fed is still correct in its assessment. In any case, this development will not make the Fed’s situation any easier, as Helaba’s analyst Ralf Umlauf says.
The reporting season that started with the banks is also moving into focus. In view of improving developments relating to the coronavirus in Europe and – compared to the previous year – beneficial currency effects, capital market strategist Michael Blumenthal from Postbank expects that analyst estimates will again be too low and could be exceeded. According to him, strong profits and a confident business outlook are likely to have a positive effect on market sentiment, which has been dampened in recent weeks by weaker economic data in the US and China.
The two big banks Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan are currently in focus with quarterly figures. The largest US bank JPMorgan Chase reported a surprisingly strong profit jump in the second quarter and exceeded analysts’ estimates with its earnings per share. However, the result also included a provision release totaling $ 3 billion. The shares fell along with Goldman Sachs as the second weakest Dow value by 1.6 percent. Goldman had – despite an unexpectedly strong increase in profits – disappointed with the income in the trading business.
Boeing, at the bottom of the Dow, suffered with minus 2.9 percent from a lowered delivery target. New production defects in the long-haul 787 “Dreamliner” made this necessary. Further inspections and repairs are necessary for a number of 787 aircraft that have not yet been handed over to customers.
In contrast, Pepsico gained 2.8 percent in the S&P 100. After robust growth in the second quarter, the beverage and snack manufacturer increased its forecast for the full year slightly ./ck/jha/
– .
