The pandemic continues to heighten concerns about the US economic outlook – something that can be seen on the Wall Street trading floor. Investors remain cautious and hope for a turnaround after the US elections.
After the recent price slide, some investors feel their way back into the US stock market. Because of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic and the approaching US election, they shied away from major engagements. The US standard value index Dow Jones lost 0.8 percent to 27,463.19 points. The technology-heavy Nasdaq advanced 0.6 percent to 11,431.35 points and the broad S&P 500 lost 0.3 percent to 3390.68 points.
Many investors have painful memories of the 2016 presidential election, said investment strategist Rodrigo Catril of the National Australia Bank. Back then, some of them would have burned their fingers for betting the wrong horse. "The strategy must therefore be to seize opportunities on election day instead of positioning yourself in advance." The uncertainty about the election result lifted the volatility index Vix, which measures the nervousness of investors, to a seven-week high of 33.77 points.
The chip sector moved into the spotlight in the stock market. The semiconductor manufacturer AMD wants the rival Xilinx for $ 143 per share or a total of $ 35 billion swallow. The data center chip supplier's titles rose 8 percent. AMD papers on the other hand paid about four percent one.
Eli Lilly falls short of expectations
Analyst Stacy Rasgon from research firm Bernstein warned that this bulk purchase could distract the company from defending its technological lead over arch-rival Intel. The shares of Caterpillar fell around around three percent. Because of the pandemic and the trade dispute between the US and China, the construction machinery manufacturer's sales fell by around a quarter and profits by more than half. The declines were in line with expectations, commented analyst Stephen Volkmann of the Jefferies investment bank.
Also at Eli Lilly investors reacted with sales to the quarterly results. The pharmaceutical company’s sales and profits fell short of expectations, criticized Steve Scala, an analyst from the asset manager Cowen. Eli Lilly Papers became cheaper by almost seven percent. The papers of Harley Davidson increased significantly with a plus of 22 percent. Thanks to a strict austerity course, the motorcycle manufacturer posted a profit jump.
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