Biontech under pressure
Wall Street is picking itself up again
08/07/2023 11:01 p.m
After last week’s losses, US investors are getting a little more courage. A few days before the release of the new inflation data, Wall Street closes with premiums. Biotechnology stocks are dropping traders.
Investors on Wall Street grabbed stocks at the start of the week in anticipation of Thursday’s US inflation numbers. The Dow Jones Index the standard values closed 1.2 percent higher at 35,473 points. The tech-heavy one Nasdaq advanced 0.6 percent to 13,994 points. The broad one S&P 500 increased 0.9 percent to 4518 points.
Investors are hoping for signs from the development of consumer prices that the latest rate hike by the US Federal Reserve in its fight against inflation was also the last for the time being. The currency watchdogs have announced that they will pay more attention to the data situation when making their next decision. According to experts, the latest US labor market data was inconsistent. “Against this backdrop, the release of the US inflation numbers gained renewed importance later this week,” said Ricardo Evangelista, an analyst at trading house ActivTrades.
With its interest rate marathon, the Fed has already pushed the inflation rate down to 3.0 percent and is thus within sight of the target of 2.0 percent. “In the last monthly report we saw that the monthly pressure for the CPI finally broke to the downside,” said Charlie Ripley, strategist at asset manager Allianz Investment Management. “In the service sector, however, the rate of increase remained relatively stable.” Experts surveyed by Refinitiv expect a rate of 3.3 percent for July.
Expectations of inflation data pushed prices down US Treasury Bonds. The yield on 10-year bonds rose to 4.100 percent from 4.062 percent the previous day. It thus remained above the four percent mark that it had reached after the US credit rating was downgraded by the rating agency Fitch. It’s also approaching a 14-year high of 4.338 percent set in October last year, said Konstantin Oldenburger, an analyst at brokerage CMC Markets. “With stronger than expected price pressures, this level could be ramped up quickly, which should add concern to investors again.”
In the oil market, the prospect of weaker demand in the US offset supply fears after Saudi Arabia and Russia extended production cuts. the sort Brent from the North Sea and US light oil STI fell by half a percent to $85.79 and $82.39 a barrel, respectively. “The summer driving season in the US is coming to an end,” said Robert Yawger, energy expert at Mizuho Bank in New York. “And if you don’t need as much petrol, then you don’t need as much oil either.”
In terms of companies, biotechnology groups were under pressure. The Corona vaccine manufacturer Biontech wrote a net loss of a good 190 million euros in the second quarter after a profit of 1.67 billion a year ago. The company cited inventory write-downs of its Comirnaty Covid vaccine. The stock fell more than 7 percent. Also the share certificates of the competitor Moderna lost 6.5 percent.
From the depots also flew Tesla. The papers of the e-car group fell by around one percent. Former Tesla chief financial officer Zachary Kirkhorn resigned on Friday after four years. The successor will be the previous chief accountant Vaibhav Taneja. Reasons for the change were not given. The share of Berkshire Hathaway meanwhile advanced by 3.4 percent. A rebound in the insurance business has given star investor Warren Buffett’s holding company a record profit.