NEW YORK (awp international) – On Thursday, the US stock markets continued the gains of the previous day. The Dow Jones Industrial rose 1.79 percent to 32,696 points. The leading index could now leave the downward trend that began in April behind. According to stockbrokers, as on the previous day, the fact that the minutes of the US Federal Reserve gave no indication of even more aggressive steps to combat high inflation in the USA has a supportive effect.
The market-wide S&P 500 went up 2.15 percent to 4064 points. The tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 rose 3.02 percent to 12,305 points. The numerous growth stocks in the index had suffered particularly badly in the past few weeks from the prospect of sharp interest rate hikes.
The Federal Reserve minutes are initially calming nerves as they signaled further rate hikes of 0.50 percentage point in June and July before pausing in September, commented Jeffrey Halley, market analyst at brokerage Oanda Asia Pacific. The Fed’s 0.75-point rate hike, feared by the market, “was no longer on the agenda.”
The focus was on stocks from the badly battered technology sector. Apple initially lost more than two percent, but caught up on the losses and was last up 2.4 percent. According to insiders, the iPhone manufacturer has doubts about the increase in sales of its smartphone in the current year.
Medtronic lost five percent. The manufacturer of medical technology turned over less than expected in the fourth business quarter.
There was also news about Broadcom and its interest in VMWare. The chip group agreed with the software provider on a takeover for around 61 billion US dollars. Papers from Broadcom and VMWare each gained almost four percent.
Price rallies put down some stocks from the classic retail trade. The quarterly figures from Macy’s, Dollar Tree and Dollar General exceeded expectations, which have fallen sharply in recent weeks. The courses then shot up by 14 to 20 percent. The papers of the Chinese Internet retailer Alibaba rose by 14.5 percent. The lockdowns in China recently drove consumers back to online shopping.
The biggest loser in the Nasdaq 100 was Kraft Heinz shares. A sell recommendation by the bank UBS for the papers of the food giant pushed the price down by more than seven percent. In addition, the second largest shareholder 3G Capital passed on a package of 88 million shares to outside investors./bek/he
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