Corona worries weigh on stock exchanges: Goldman Sachs surprises analysts

Rising new corona infections cloud the mood on Wall Street. Fear of new restrictions and dwindling hope for a new economic stimulus package are driving the most important indices into the red.

The initial buyers on Wall Street quickly retreated on Wednesday. Of the Dow Jones Industrial turned into the red early on and in the end lost 0.58 percent to 28,514.00 points. The day before, the US benchmark index had paid a little tribute to its previous rally and fell by a good half a percent.

For the market-wide S&P 500 it went downhill by 0.66 percent to 3488.67 points in the middle of the week. The technology-heavy selection index Nasdaq 100, which had just slipped into the red on Tuesday, ultimately lost 0.81 percent to 11,985.36 points. Initially, mixed company news and concerns about the worldwide development of the corona infection numbers had slowed down the willingness to take risks. Then US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin provided an additional mood damper. Although he wants to continue negotiating, he believes that an agreement with the Democrats on another Corona economic stimulus program before the presidential election on November 3 is difficult.

Bank of America with significant losses

The latest business figures from the banking sector met with a cautious response on the market. While the shares of Goldman Sachs after all, gained 0.2 percent, the titles of competitors Bank of America and Wells Fargo lost almost five and a half and six percent respectively.

Goldman Sachs was able to almost double its quarterly profit thanks to the flourishing stock exchange trading in the Corona crisis and increase earnings by 30 percent. The investment bank thus significantly exceeded analysts' expectations. In contrast, reported the Bank of America In view of high provisions for bad loans and low interest rates, a decline in business. Wells Fargo had a similar experience – analysts had expected better numbers. At the health insurer UnitedHealth was a price decline of almost three percent to book, which the shares were bottom of the Dow. The fact that the many corona infections in the third quarter did not reduce profits as much as feared did not help them.

Takeover plans in the oil industry, however, created enthusiasm. The papers of Concho Resources jumped a good ten percent after it was heard from insider circles that the oil giant ConocoPhillips is holding takeover talks with the group, which are still at an early stage. ConocoPhillips shares fell 1 percent. A reaction from both companies is still pending. With Concho Resources valued at around $ 13 billion, it would be the largest acquisition in the sector since the beginning of the year – arguably before Chevron's most recent acquisition of Noble Energy.

Navistar under pressure

Meanwhile, the truck and bus manufacturer Traton missed the shareholders of Navistar a cold shower. The Volkswagen subsidiary set a deadline for them in the hanging game over the planned takeover of the US competitor. Navistar has been informed that the previous offer will expire on October 16 at 6:00 p.m. (CEST). The raised offer of September 10th is $ 43 per share in cash. Navistar's shares, which had since climbed to more than $ 44, closed a good 19 percent lower at $ 36.

For the Euro After the weakness from the previous day, things went up again: In New York, the common currency was last worth 1.1750 dollars. The European Central Bank (ECB) had set the reference rate at 1.1750 (Tuesday: 1.1787) dollars and the dollar had thus cost 0.8511 (0.8484) euros.

US Treasuries benefited from their status as a "safe haven" and gained a little: The futures contract for ten-year Treasuries (T-Note-Future) rose by 0.01 percent to 139.21 points, while the yield on ten-year bonds rose to 0, 72 percent fell.