Monday, October 18, 2021
Inflation theme dominates
Wall Street hesitates over company balance sheets
The US stock exchanges do not move uniformly. The decisive factor is the upcoming company balance sheet, which should be shaped by the topic of inflation. Regardless of this, investors are looking forward to the start of trading in the first publicly traded Bitcoin fund in the USA.
In anticipation of a wave of corporate balance sheets, US stock exchanges have failed to find a common direction. Renewed inflation worries dampened investors’ buying mood. However, support came from price gains in high-tech stocks. The US standard value index Dow Jones closed 0.1 percent lower to 35,258 points. The technology-heavy Nasdaq, however, advanced 0.8 percent to 15,021 points. The broad S&P 500 gained 0.3 percent to 4486 points.
The current accounting season will be characterized by the topic of inflation, said stockbrokers. Investors are therefore turning their attention to statements on how to deal with the increased cost pressure. Companies that could not pass this on to their customers would have to expect price setbacks. In the coming days, among others, the online video library Netflix, the IT company IBM and the chip manufacturer Intel will present figures.
Regardless of this, investors were eagerly awaiting the start of trading in the first listed Bitcoin fund (ETF) in the USA. This kept the course of the cyber currency at around $ 62,000 within striking distance of its record high of just under $ 65,000 in April. Unless the US Securities and Exchange Commission intervenes at the last minute, the ProShares Bitcoin Strategy ETF could start trading on Tuesday. This is a step forward for cryptocurrencies, but not a turning point, says Chris Weston, chief analyst at the brokerage house Pepperstone. After all, there is still a lot of regulatory work ahead of the authorities for this relatively new asset class.
Corona vaccine gives Dynavax a boost
Dynavax moved into the limelight among companies. The drug company’s shares rose 1.2 percent after development partner Valneva presented encouraging test results for a coronavirus vaccine. The vaccine is said to be more effective than AstraZeneca’s and has fewer side effects. Valneva shares rose in Paris by almost 33 percent.
Walt Disney papers, meanwhile, gave way to a good three percent. Barclays had previously downgraded the entertainment company’s stock.
Among the course winners were Apple with a premium of 1.2 percent. The group is launching two new MacBook Pro models with new in-house semiconductors. The M1 Pro and M1 Max chips are more powerful than earlier Apple semiconductors, the Californian company announced. In doing so, they used less energy than products from rivals such as Intel or AMD. So far, Intel chips have been built into the most powerful Apple laptops, while the first self-developed M1 semiconductors have already been used in a number of other Apple devices.