NEW YORK (dpa-AFX) – The US stock market started trading with losses after the strong previous week. Among the individual values, Boeing came under significant pressure on Monday, because in China a 737-800NG of the airline China Eastern Airlines crashed from a great height with 132 occupants.
After a weekly plus of almost five and a half percent, the leading index Dow Jones Industrial fell in early trading by 0.47 percent to 34,591.05 points. The market-wide S&P 500 lost 0.13 percent to 4457.45 points. The technology-heavy selection index Nasdaq 100 fell 0.76 percent to 14,309.91 points.
Boeing shares were down almost 5 percent at the end of the Dow. The crash happened in a remote, hilly area near the city of Wuzhou in southern China’s Guangxi region. China’s head of state and party leader Xi Jinping called on the airline to deal with the consequences of the accident appropriately and to investigate potential dangers to air traffic. China Eastern Airlines immediately ordered all Boeing 737s in its fleet grounded first.
Meanwhile, the papers of the insurer Alleghany jumped up by almost a quarter, because Warren Buffett’s investment company Berkshire Hathaway is again tackling a billion-dollar takeover after years of reluctance. An agreement has already been reached. Berkshire Hathaway’s shares gained about two percent.
Rising oil prices drew investors’ attention back to ExxonMobil and Chevron. New uncertainties in the global supply of crude oil caused prices to rise. Over the weekend, Yemeni Houthi rebels attacked various targets in Saudi Arabia, including facilities belonging to the state oil company Aramco. In addition, the situation on the oil market is very tense because of the Ukraine war, since Russia is a major producer and exporter of oil. Chevron’s stock rose a good one percent and ExxonMobil’s rose by three and a half percent./la/jha/
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