NEW YORK (awp international) – Small glimmers of hope in the war in Ukraine triggered a recovery on the US stock exchanges on Wednesday. After four losing trading days, the Dow Jones Industrial rose 1.70 percent to 33,193 points in early trading. The decline in energy prices after their recent record hunt also had a supportive effect.
Investors see the planned meeting of the foreign ministers of Ukraine and Russia this Thursday in Antalya, Turkey, as a ray of hope. In addition, the government in Kyiv is now indicating that it is no longer insisting on immediate NATO membership and is not ruling out the country’s neutrality – which would at least correspond to some of Russia’s demands.
In view of this development, the market-wide S&P 500 advanced by 1.84 percent to 4248 points. The technology-heavy Nasdaq 100 rose a little more, by 2.24 percent to 13,565 points.
In addition, according to Russian agency reports from the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, it was announced that Moscow, for its part, is not seeking a change of power in Ukraine. It had sounded different in the last few days of the war.
Although Wall Street has been significantly less affected than, for example, the European stock exchanges since the beginning of the conflict, the losses there are now adding up. On Wednesday, the situation on the commodity markets also eased somewhat, with oil and gas prices falling.
Despite possible bargains in shares, many market experts warn against exaggerated hopes. “Without a de-escalation of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, it could still be difficult for the stock markets to find a bottom,” fears Barclays expert Emmanuel Cau. And Jürgen Molnar from Robomarkets points out that even if the bloody conflict ends, the geopolitical and economic tensions between Russia and the West will not be eliminated. “What is likely to remain are the consequences of rising energy and commodity prices for inflation, monetary policy and economic growth. Not to forget the upheavals in the financial system should Russia actually slide into bankruptcy.”
The possible improvement in the situation resulted in strong sector rotations on the stock markets. The losers of the recent crisis were now sought and the profiteers were avoided. For example, prices in the energy sector came under pressure. Chevron, Exxonmobil and ConocoPhillips fell 2.5 to 3 percent. The papers of suppliers and service providers such as Halliburton and Schlumberger fell even more.
The main beneficiaries of the new development were shares in the travel and leisure industry. The shares of the online travel portal Booking gained 7.4 percent. Shares in the online travel agency Trip.com gained 4.7 percent. The papers of the airlines American Airlines, United Airlines and Jetblue increased by up to ten percent.
Meanwhile, Nike shares led the Dow with a plus of six percent. They were driven upwards by the rather optimistic forecasts of the opponent Adidas for the current year./bek/he
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