New record highs after the Fed: Apple and Co. give Wall Street a tailwind

New record highs after the Fed
Apple and Co. are giving Wall Street a tailwind

The US economy is growing surprisingly strongly, the quarterly figures from Apple and Facebook exceed market expectations. S&P 500 and Nasdaq initially rise to record highs. The decision of the US Federal Reserve from the previous evening is noticeable.

Wall Street ended trading on Thursday with a premium. The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite reached new all-time highs. Rising yields on the bond market only had a brief impact on the indices. The decision by the US Federal Reserve last evening to stick to its monetary policy had a supportive effect. In addition, there were quarterly figures from the technology heavyweights that were above expectations Apple and Facebook and compelling US economic data. The US gross domestic product (GDP) increased by 6.4 percent in the first quarter.

According to participants, the US stock market showed a familiar pattern, according to which US central bank decisions often only take effect the next day. The Fed had confirmed its extremely loose monetary policy and at the same time confirmed that it would maintain it for the time being. It drove skeptics into the parade who, in view of the latest inflationary developments, had expected signs of an imminent tightening.

S&P 500 4,212.08

In addition, US President Joe Biden has reaffirmed tax increases, but in his State of the Union address he primarily emphasized the creation of jobs and economic stimuli worth billions of dollars. In terms of individual values, the focus was on Apple’s strong quarterly figures. The technology giant has convinced across the board. However, the share closed slightly in the red after initial gains.

The Dow Jones Index gained 0.7 percent to 34,060 points. The S&P 500 rose by 0.7 percent to 4,211 points. The Nasdaq Composite increased by 0.2 percent to 14,083 points. For 1,726 (Wednesday: 1,925) course winners at Nyse there were 1,620 (1,354) losers. 119 (177) titles went unchanged from the market.

“It’s very difficult to be bearish in this environment,” said investment strategist Gregory Perdon of Arbuthnot Latham. “You let the economy run hot,” he added. Because monetary policy tightening is apparently not an issue in the short term. Weekly labor market and GDP data for the first quarter showed that the US economy is currently not yet hot. Both data series were very positive, although the market had hoped for a little more in each case.

Facebook is pulling powerfully by numbers

Facebook
Facebook 329.51

Parallel to Apple (-0.1%) other companies provided their identification numbers – according to the chip manufacturer Qualcomm (+ 4.5%), which shone with good quarterly figures and a strong outlook. Facebook (+ 7.3%) again significantly increased sales and profits in the first quarter and exceeded market expectations. The Ebay-Share (-10%), on the other hand, was punished for a disappointing outlook, even if the online marketplace performed slightly better than estimated in the first quarter.

Also according to quarterly figures, the fordShare down 9.4 percent. Although the net profit was as high as it has not been for years, Ford warned of the negative consequences of the chip shortage for its own business. “The market may have underestimated the magnitude of the semiconductor impact,” said RBC.

The construction machinery manufacturer has a higher demand Caterpillar (-2.1%) brought an increase in sales and profits in the first quarter – if market forecasts were exceeded. However, Caterpillar also warned of supply chain bottlenecks. The food company Kraft Heinz (+ 3.9%) also convinced with its quarterly figures. The same applied to the fast food chain MC Donalds (+ 1.2%), which exceeded market expectations in the first quarter.

Fed pushes dollars

With the dove-like US Federal Reserve, the dollar initially came under pressure, but was able to recover over time. Dollar bulls have taken the wind out of the sails of the Fed, it said. The euro lost part of its premium following the good US data and was trading at $ 1.2128 in late US trading. The day’s high was at $ 1.2150.

Apple
Apple 133.48

The bond market showed that the Fed is still unable to silence all warners, where prices fell with rising economic expectations and yields rose with growing inflation concerns. The yield on ten-year US Treasuries gained 2.9 basis points to 1.64 percent. The key measure of inflation, the PCE deflator, was an annualized core rate of 2.3 percent in the first quarter, well above the Fed’s long-term target of 2 percent.

The price of gold was weighed down by rising market interest rates. The World Gold Council spoke of a 71 percent drop in demand in the first quarter in view of increased returns. Gold ETFs are primarily affected. Driven by high demand from China and the weak dollar, the copper price has risen to a ten-year high. It passed the $ 10,000 a ton mark, but then slipped back below that level. The copper price is a barometer for the state of the world economy.

Oil prices rose by almost 2 percent with rising economic optimism in the USA – fueled by the good US data. In addition, the government had reported lower gasoline and diesel stocks the day before. This fact speaks for an increasing demand, it said.

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