Tuesday, December 28, 2021
Technology stocks under pressure
US stock markets mostly in the red
The waning fear of a setback for the global economy is initially attracting investors to Wall Street. After four trading days with surcharges, however, a certain willingness to take profits is unmistakable – especially with Bitcoin and crypto values.
The leading indices on Wall Street presented themselves inconsistently with only minor movements. The S & P-500 marked a new record high right after the starting bell, but turned into the red. The Dow Jones posted slight gains, while the Nasdaq indices weakened. The rise in blue chips was driven by growing confidence that the latest wave of pandemics will have less serious economic consequences than earlier ones. After four trading days with surcharges, however, a certain willingness to take profits was unmistakable.
the Dow Jones Index closed 0.3 percent higher 36,398 points, the S&P 500 fell 0.1 percent, the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite lost 0.6 percent. There were a total of 1,819 (Monday: 2,268) course winners and 1,537 (1,113) losers. 143 (99) titles closed unchanged.
According to new studies, infections with the currently rampant omicron variant of the coronavirus are milder; the risk of hospitalization is lower. Nevertheless, some economists have lowered their growth estimates for the first quarter of next year. Market participants also pointed out that the movements in share prices take place with very thin volumes, which results in exaggerated price movements.
The news situation was again very thin. Notable economic data were just as little on the agenda as important company events. Lost among the individual values Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals 2.9 percent. A drug from the company that was supposed to be used to treat acute lung failure (ARDS) in Covid patients has not shown the hoped-for effect in a phase III study. Had already on Monday Pluristem Therapeutics communicated that his ARDS candidate did not achieve the intended goal in phase II studies. The price of Pluristem had then slumped by 17 percent and has now dropped by a further 3.7 percent.
the Apple stock came back 0.6 percent. The company has closed some of its New York stores because of the sharp rise in corona numbers. With the share of Coinbase Global it went down 6.8 percent. The price of the trading platform for cryptocurrencies is following this down, it said. Bitcoin, the top-selling cryptocurrency, fell 6.4 percent. Ethereum decreased by 4.5 percent, Cardano by 4.7 percent and Terra by 8.7 percent.
The dollar was volatile on thin sales. In late business, the dollar index was up 0.1 percent. Expectations of tighter monetary policy in the USA supported this. Interim losses were explained with the optimism that the Omikron variant of the coronavirus would not require any further strict restrictions. The dollar appears to be prone to positive headlines about the pandemic this week, Oanda market analyst Jeffrey Halley said.
The oil price benefited from the hope that the Omikron variant of the coronavirus will burden the economy and thus the demand for oil less. Prices rose for the fifth day in a row, with government bonds showing little change at the long end. At the short end, returns were driven by the expected tightening of the interest rate screw.