NEW YORK (dpa-AFX) – Wall Street continued its recovery course on Friday. Once again, members of the US Federal Reserve (Fed) reassured investors with statements that the price increases triggered by the economic upswing were only temporary. Some of the raw materials that have recently risen sharply in price have now gone downhill – that, too, has eased fears of a tightened monetary policy to combat inflation.
The Dow Jones Industrial rose 0.68 percent to 34 253.67 points. So far the week has been very volatile for the US benchmark index. At the beginning, the most important Wall Street barometer climbed above the 35,000 mark for the first time, then dropped well below 34,000 points in the middle of the week under the impression of high inflation. Since Thursday the signs have been pointing to recovery. On a weekly basis, however, there is still a loss of around 1.5 percent.
The market-wide S&P 500 gained 1.04 percent on Friday to 4155.32 points. The technology-heavy Nasdaq 100 rose 1.52 percent to 13,308.95 points.
The current economic data from the USA, meanwhile, did not provide investors with any incentive to rekindle the inflation debate. The upward trend in prices for goods imported into the USA remained high, but other economic news did not indicate an overheating of the economy: retail sales surprisingly stagnated in April and total industrial production recently did not rise as strongly as analysts expected. In addition, the consumer climate deteriorated unexpectedly in May.
Recently, market participants have repeatedly expressed concern that rising inflation in the course of a flourishing economy could induce the Fed to abandon its very expansionary pace to support the economy. However, the analysts at Credit Suisse can also gain something from rising inflation expectations: This is usually positive for cyclical industries that are particularly dependent on the economy. You mentioned above all the banking industry, valuable stocks and small caps.
The entertainment giant Walt Disney meanwhile continues to groan under the corona crisis, and the success in the streaming business also declined significantly at the beginning of the year. Since the pandemic largely paralyzes the rest of Disney’s entertainment empire, the group is dependent on the streaming services. Investors reacted disappointed to the numbers, the shares were the clear loser in the Dow with a minus of around four percent.
The newcomer to the stock exchange and online food supplier Doordash exceeded analysts’ expectations with sales from the first quarter and recorded sustained high demand for food deliveries – despite restaurants gradually opening again and increasing vaccinations among the population. The shares soared by almost 19 percent.
The online portal for accommodations, Airbnb, also impressed the analysts with bookings for the first quarter of the year. Because of the repayment of debts taken on during the pandemic, the loss expanded enormously, but the shares still gained almost three percent./la/he
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