Nike under pressure
Dow slumps after strong stock market week
March 22, 2024, 10:06 p.m
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After the recent record highs, the Dow Jones is taking a breather. In contrast, there is no setback in the technology-heavy indices. The Fed is fueling hopes of a turnaround in June by announcing three possible interest rate cuts in 2024.
After the recent record hunt, investors on Wall Street preferred not to take any new positions before the weekend and instead preferred to take profits. At the bottom of the indices was the Dow Jones Index, which fell by 0.8 percent to 39,475 points. The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq indices However, they only deviated very slightly from the previous day’s closing levels. After the US Federal Reserve signaled on Wednesday that there could be three interest rate cuts in 2024, the Dow, the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq indices reached record highs. According to initial information, there were 950 (Thursday: 2002) price winners and 1,866 (840) losers on the Nyse. 76 (61) titles closed unchanged.
At the Interest rate futures market The probability of a first interest rate cut in June increased again to around 75 percent. In line with this, yields on the bond market fell noticeably, by almost 4 basis points to 4.60 percent in the two-year range. The dollar continued its recovery from the previous day, supported by the latest robust US economic data. Because Switzerland has already relaxed its monetary policy and the ECB is likely to follow suit, the US central bankers appeared hawkish in comparison. This would give the dollar a boost, analysts said. The dollar index gained 0.4 percent.
For the Oil prices It fell 0.3 percent, the third day in a row after reaching a five-month high. There was talk in the trade of a technical backlash that was overdue. The price of gold fell by 0.8 percent to $2,164 per troy ounce. In both cases, the stronger dollar may have put pressure on prices, as it makes both oil and gold more expensive for buyers from non-dollar countries.
Nike bottoms the Dow
When it came to individual values on the stock market, the Dow value went for it Nike down 6.9 percent. The sporting goods manufacturer exceeded expectations with its third quarter figures, but at the same time announced that it expected falling sales. Next to Nike were Visas (-2.4%), Caterpillar (-1.8%) and Goldman Sachs (-1.7%) the biggest Dow losers. Tesla (-1.2%) suffered from a Bloomberg report that said the automaker has cut production in China amid slower sales growth. Lululemon Athletica fell by 16 percent. The sportswear retailer exceeded expectations with its fourth-quarter results. However, the market was disappointed with the sales forecast.
Put against it Fedex by 7.4 percent. The logistics company earned more in the third quarter despite lower demand and exceeded expectations. Fedex benefited from savings. Fedex narrowed its profit forecast range for the current financial year. The approval of a new share buyback program worth $5 billion also had a supportive effect.
The Apple stock was able to recover somewhat after the previous day’s significant drop of 0.5 percent. It had lost almost five percent in response to an antitrust lawsuit. Meanwhile, Apple is apparently turning to Baidu for AI technology for its devices in China, sources said. Apple was looking for a local partner because Chinese regulators were testing AI models before they were approved. Baidu rose in price by 1.8 percent. Abbvie rose 0.5 percent after the US Food and Drug Administration gave full approval to Abbvie’s ovarian cancer drug. Abbvie had added it to its portfolio as part of the billion-dollar takeover of the biotechnology company Immunogen.