Big losses on Wall Street
Amazon triggers massive profit-taking
4/29/2022, 10:29 p.m
The US stock markets closed a weak week with significant losses. Disappointing business figures bring Amazon a price drop. Apple and Intel also disappoint on Wall Street.
At the end of the month, participants on the US stock exchanges took profits on a large scale. Of the Dow Jones Index closed 2.8 percent lower at 32,977 points, the S&P 500 noted 3.6 percent lighter. The tech-heavy one Nasdaq Composite dropped 4.2 percent. The Nasdaq recorded the strongest monthly setback since 2008. There were a total of 603 (Thursday: 2,552) price winners and 2,716 (798) losers. 122 (115) titles closed unchanged.
If the quarterly report from Facebook parent Meta had made investors optimistic, especially for the technology sector, the figures from now show Amazon (-14 percent) that the confidence may have been premature. The online mail order company closed the first quarter with a loss. The negative result reflects general economic trends: declining online purchases, high inflation and supply chain problems.
Not only reason for joy also delivered Apple (-3.7 percent). Although the iPhone manufacturer performed better than expected in its second fiscal quarter, it warns of a high drop in sales in the current quarter as a result of the lockdowns in China. intel (-6.9 percent) exceeded its own targets and market expectations in the first quarter, but “only” confirmed the outlook.
But there are also companies that are more confident in the current year. So had Honeywell (+1.9 percent) raised its outlook when it presented better-than-expected figures. The two oil companies, on the other hand, failed to meet expectations chevrons (-3.2 percent) and Exxon Mobile (-2.2 percent).
Dollar rally over for the time being
Economic data offered little distraction from the balance sheet season. The personal income and expenses from March were published, each of which rose more strongly than expected. The increase in expenditure was somewhat more pronounced. High inflation is likely to have had an impact here. The labor cost index for the first quarter also rose somewhat more than expected. The Chicago-area Purchasing Managers’ Index and the University of Michigan second-reading consumer sentiment index, both for April, came in below forecast.
There was profit-taking in the dollar. In the past few days, the US currency had benefited from the upcoming interest rate hikes by the US central bank, but was also sought after as a safe haven against the background of political and economic uncertainty. After the dollar index rose to its highest level in almost 20 years, it was ripe for consolidation, ING said. Currently there is dollar index 0.4 percent after.
Bonds sold off following the income and spending data, which was reflected in rising yields. Traders pointed to March’s rise in the PCE price index, the US Federal Reserve’s preferred price measure. It is likely to have an impact on the Fed’s interest rate decision next week. 10- and 30-year yields posted their highest monthly gains in April since 2009.
gold increased slightly, which observers explained with fears of inflation and doubts about Europe’s energy supply. the oil prices tended to be inconsistent. Brent further benefited as Germany gave up its opposition to a ban on Russian oil imports. The WTI variety, on the other hand, gave way. Market participants warned that the ongoing lockdowns in China are likely to significantly reduce demand for oil and thus limit price increases.