NEW YORK (dpa-AFX) – Investors’ willingness to buy has given some US indices further records in early trading on Friday. Towards the end of the first hour of trading, however, the momentum subsided somewhat. The Dow Jones Industrial, which was the only one to fail in early trading, had recently slipped 0.19 percent into the red to 30,982.96 points. For the first week of the year 2021, in which it made it over the 31,000 points for the first time, the Dow is still heading for a gain of 1.2 percent.
Other indices did better: The market-wide S&P 500 recently rose slightly by 0.15 percent to 3809.50 points. The technology-heavy Nasdaq 100 gained 0.46 percent to 12,999.11 points. In early trading, it was above the 13,000 mark for the first time.
After the recent political decisions in favor of the US Democrats, led by President-elect Joe Biden, investors were hoping for a somewhat calmer and more stable political environment, said analyst Neil Wilson of Markets.com. They rely on an expansion of economic aid and ongoing support from the central banks.
This hope was underpinned by disappointing job market data for December. In view of this, the US Federal Reserve should see its ultra-expansionary monetary policy confirmed, wrote the Helaba experts. The flood of money from the central banks is one of the main drivers of the stock market rally.
Semiconductor stocks contributed to the comparatively good mood in the technology sector. According to an optimistic sales forecast, the shares of Micron Technology recently advanced by 1.2 percent after an early rally. Internationally, strong business figures from STMicroelectronics and the tech giant Samsung had already driven industry values in Europe and Asia.
Investors will not get enough of Tesla on Friday either, the topic of e-mobility continues to attract them in droves. The papers of the electric car maker continued their record rally with a price jump of almost six percent. Adjusted for a stock split in August, they traded above the $ 850 mark for the first time.
Meanwhile, there was also speculation about a cooperation between Apple and Hyundai in the development of a self-driving electric car. On Friday, however, this had primarily driven the shares of the South Korean car manufacturer up by 19 percent. There was no clear reaction from Apple, the share remained unchanged from the previous day.
At Boeing, investors hesitated a little that the disaster surrounding the 737 Max crash plane would cost the aircraft manufacturer dearly. The corporation is paying a fine of more than $ 2.5 billion to settle criminal proceedings. The shares were then traded 0.4 percent lower.
Positive vaccine reports, however, supported the stocks of vaccine developer Biontech. Its vaccine, which was developed with Pfizer, is also said to work against the new variants of the coronavirus, which were first detected in Great Britain and South Africa, according to an initial analysis. This comes from a study by scientists from the University of Texas and the US pharmaceutical company Pfizer. The Biontech shares listed in New York soared 5.4 percent./tih/he
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