NEW YORK (dpa-AFX) – Before important monetary policy statements by the US Federal Reserve (Fed), the rates on Wall Street fell significantly on Wednesday, in some cases. The tech indices came under more pressure than the market-wide S&P 500 and the US leading index Dow Jones Industrial.
The Dow was recently minimally in the red at 32,804.86 points. The S&P 500 lost 0.56 percent to 3940.41 points after reaching a record high on Tuesday. For the technology selection index Nasdaq 100 it went down 0.92 percent to 13031.85 points.
In the midst of a recovering economy, concerns about rising capital market rates are currently growing. Higher interest rates are causing problems for the strongly growth-oriented technology companies in particular, because they increase their financing costs.
Against this background, Fed Chairman Jerome Powell must take away investors’ fear of inflation without abandoning the expansionary monetary policy. Portfolio manager Thomas Altmann from QC Partners spoke of the “special significance” that the central bank’s statements on this evening should have. At the same time, however, he assumes that no figure should be given up to which the Fed could tolerate a further rise in interest rates on the bond market.
In the meantime, yields are picking up again: ten-year government bonds temporarily yielded 1.67 percent, their highest level in around a year. The yield on 30-year bonds even rose to 2.426 percent, its highest level since August 2019.
At the bottom of the Nasdaq 100 were the shares in Pinduoduo, which fell by around eleven percent after the announcement of business figures. In the case of the e-commerce platform, the growth in the gross volume of goods was disappointing, judged the analysts at Bank Citigroup.
Uber’s papers also lost more than four percent. The company’s more than 70,000 drivers in the UK can now expect minimum wages, paid vacation and other benefits. After years of litigation and a defeat before the Supreme Court, the US company announced that it would no longer treat British drivers as independent entrepreneurs, but as employees.
Plug Power’s shares plummeted by almost 16 percent. The manufacturer of fuel cells has to correct several annual financial statements due to incorrect bookings.
Onconova Therapeutics’ papers went up by 12 percent. Market observers said that pennystocks from the biotech sector, similar to Gamestop before, have recently been mentioned frequently on the online platform Reddit and thus driven upwards. / La / fba
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