NEW YORK (dpa-AFX) – The US stock markets are likely to continue their series of losses of the past two trading days on Thursday. The fact that the rating agency Fitch has withdrawn the coveted top rating for creditworthiness from the USA is still having an effect, according to the trade. This step caused clear losses on the US stock exchanges on Wednesday. Fresh US labor market data had little impact on the leading indices before the market. The initial applications for unemployment benefits rose somewhat more than expected in the previous week.
Around three quarters of an hour before the start of trading, broker IG rated the leading index Dow Jones Industrial 0.2 percent lower at 35,203 points after losing around 1 percent the day before. The tech-heavy select index Nasdaq 100 is expected to fall 0.6 percent.
The volatility on the stock markets is suddenly back on the radar, which does not bode well for further development, said a broker. The VIX index, which measures the intensity of fluctuations on the stock exchanges, was last listed at a good 17 points, its highest level in two months. While still low by historical standards, this week’s surprise surge could cause some of the market forces behind this year’s rally to reverse direction, it said.
From a company perspective, the reporting season continues. Qualcomm sees no recovery in global smartphone sales any time soon and is responding with further job cuts. The semiconductor group expects the smartphone market to shrink in the high single-digit percentage range this year. In the past quarter, the decline in smartphone sales continued to weigh heavily on Qualcomm’s business. Sales fell 23 percent year-on-year, and profits fell by a good half. Qualcomm shares fell 9.5 percent in premarket trading.
Shares of PayPal fell 9.0 percent premarket after the payments service provider announced falling profitability in the second quarter. JPMorgan analyst Tien-tsin Huang cut his price target to $90 from $103. He also fears that the first signs of a fundamental improvement and a boss search that is about to end will not be enough to quickly revive investor sentiment.
In contrast, the shares of Moderna went up 1.1 percent premarket. The vaccine maker raised its 2023 sales forecast for the Covid-19 vaccine and struck deals with the Japanese government and several US healthcare companies as the US government largely halted vaccination coverage. For the second quarter, Moderna reported revenue that beat the average analyst estimate.
ConocoPhillips shares fell 1.8 percent premarket. The oil major posted second-quarter earnings that fell year over year, but beat the median market estimate./edh/jha/
ISIN US2605661048 US6311011026 US78378X1072
AXC0246 2023-08-03/14:51
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2023-08-03 12:51:00
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