NEW YORK (dpa-AFX) – After the recovery rally of the past two days, investors on the US stock exchanges were again more cautious in the middle of the week. The major stock indices moved close to their closing prices from the previous day on Wednesday. After all, the leading index Dow Jones Industrial made it into positive territory in the last few minutes of trading, which ended up being 0.10 percent to 35,754.75 points. On the previous two days, the Dow was up more than three percent.
The market-wide S&P 500 posted an increase of 0.31 percent to 4701.21 points on Wednesday. For the technology-heavy Nasdaq 100, which has already increased more recently, it rose a little further at 0.42 percent to 16,394.34 points.
Investors remained cautious despite rather encouraging news about the Omikron virus variant, wrote analyst Craig Erlam of the Oanda trading company. Much information is still lacking. The recent sharp price fluctuations could therefore continue depending on the news. If prices fall, however, buyers will come into the market, so a rally before Christmas cannot be ruled out.
Apple shares rose to another record high in early trading and then expanded profits. In the end, Apple was at the top of the Dow with a plus of 2.3 percent. Investors reacted happily to the fact that the iPhone manufacturer managed at the last minute to postpone a relaxation of the app store rules ordered by a court ruling. A US appeals court ruled on Wednesday that if Apple failed in this matter, it could cause significant damage. Therefore, it initially stopped implementing the changes that were supposed to come into force on Thursday.
The pharmaceutical giant Pfizer and its Mainz partner Biontech were also in focus. According to both vaccine manufacturers, three doses of their vaccine are necessary for adequate protection against the Omikron variant. The courses could not benefit from this, however: After initial gains, both titles turned into the red. At Pfizer, the loss was limited at 0.6 percent, while Biontech lost 3.6 percent.
The shares of asset manager Blackstone fell by almost three percent. Vice Chairman Hamilton James has sold a package of around 3.7 million Blackstone shares. James recently announced that he would be stepping down in January.
Investors took price gains with the semiconductor industry, which has recently rallied strongly. Intel, Texas Instruments, Nvidia, Microchip Technology and NXP Semiconductors lost between 1.3 and 4.5 percent.
The euro increased profits in US trade. Most recently, the common currency was traded at $ 1.1350. The European Central Bank had previously set the reference rate at $ 1.1299. The dollar had thus cost 0.8850 euros.
US Treasuries were still not in demand. The futures contract for ten-year Treasuries fell 0.12 percent to 130.17 points. The return on ten-year government bonds was 1.52 percent./bek/jha/
By Benjamin Krieger, dpa-AFX
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