NEW YORK (dpa-AFX) – Shortly before important monetary policy statements by the US Federal Reserve (Fed), investors on Wall Street largely held back on Wednesday. The tech indices came under more pressure than the standard values.
The US leading index Dow Jones Industrial recently achieved an increase of 0.18 percent to 32,885.64 points. The market-wide S&P 500, however, lost 0.44 percent to 3945.08 points after reaching a record high on Tuesday. The Nasdaq 100 technology selection index fell 0.95 percent to 13 027.17 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, the yields are picking up again: the ten-year government bonds temporarily yielded 1.69 percent and had thus reached their highest level in around a year. The yield on 30-year bonds even rose to 2.444 percent, its highest level since July 2019.
Among the weakest values in the Nasdaq 100, the shares of Pinduoduo buckled after the announcement of business figures by almost seven percent. 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 five 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 14 percent. The manufacturer of fuel cells has to correct several annual financial statements due to incorrect bookings.
Onconova Therapeutics’ papers went up by a good 12 percent. Market observers said that recently, pennystocks from the biotech sector, similar to Gamestop before, were frequently mentioned on the online platform Reddit and thus driven upwards. / La / nas
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