Fourth month in a row
Wall Street also ended February in positive territory
February 29, 2024, 11:07 p.m
The price data for January is as expected – and US investors are shaking off their reluctance of the last few days. Tech stocks are particularly in demand. Boeing is threatened with new trouble because of the 737-MAX-9 breakdown, the stock is plummeting and thus preventing major jumps in the Dow.
The recent rise in inflation did not derail US stock markets on Thursday. The Dow Jones Index closed 0.1 percent higher at 38,996 points. The technology-heavy one Nasdaq advanced 0.9 percent to a record close of 16,091 points. The broad one S&P 500 increased 0.5 percent to 5096 points. All three market barometers recorded price gains for the fourth month in a row.
The so-called PCE deflator, the US Federal Reserve’s preferred indicator for its monetary policy, was in line with expectations with an increase of 0.3 percent on a monthly basis. Traders therefore continued to bet on a first interest rate cut by the US Federal Reserve in June. The monetary authorities had already made it clear that the road to their inflation target of two percent would be bumpy. “If we have lower inflation for a month or two, especially year-over-year at the core, then perhaps a rate cut could be back on the table in June,” said Peter Cardillo, chief market strategist at Spartan Capital Securities. The Dollar index gained 0.2 percent to 104.13 points.
Price drop at WeightWatchers
Shares fell on the stock market WeightWatchers by 18 percent. US talk show host Oprah Winfrey scared off investors with her announcement that she would be leaving the board of directors of the diet company. She had publicly disclosed that she was taking prescription medication to control her weight.
There was a collapse in the tech sector Snowflake by around 18 percent. The cloud data analytics company had forecast lower-than-expected product sales for the first quarter.
A price slide Boeing dragged the Dow Jones index lower. The aircraft manufacturer’s shares lost 1.6 percent. According to a report by the Bloomberg agency, the US Department of Justice is investigating an incident from the beginning of January. At that time, part of the cabin wall, behind which the emergency exit is located, fell out of an Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 MAX-9 shortly after take-off from Portland at an altitude of almost five kilometers. It then turned out that four bolts were missing from the cabin door.
The continued rise of the cyber currency Bitcoin brought momentum to the crypto sector. Shares of Coinbase Global and MicroStrategy rose by 1.4 percent and 6.2 percent respectively. Bitcoin rose in price by up to five percent and, at $63,674, was only around ten percent below its record high of 2021. “In any other market we would be in the ‘Keep your hands off this speculative bubble’ situation,” said analyst Matt Simpson from Brokerage firm City Index. “But Bitcoin is in a parabolic rally with no signs of stopping.” The second most important cyber motto Ethereum gained 5.3 percent in the Spitz and, at $3,500.90, was as expensive as it was two years ago.