Friday, October 1st, 2021
US stock exchanges on the road to recovery
Corona drug boosts Wall Street
Investors are pleased with the encouraging study results of a new Covid drug from Merck & Co. The drug gives hope for a return to normalcy. For example, it is fueling speculation that the tourism industry will recover quickly.
Investors return to Wall Street hoping for a speedy recovery from the coronavirus pandemic. The U.S. Standard Values Index Dow Jones rose by just under percent to 34,138 points. The broad one S&P 500 and the tech-heavy one Nasdaq lagged behind with gains of 0.6 and 0.1 percent. They were slowed down by a warning from Fitch rating agency that the dispute over raising the debt ceiling could weigh on US creditworthiness.
The Congress had agreed on a transitional budget and thus averted a “Government Shutdown”, the closure of numerous authorities. But if the debt ceiling is not raised, the world’s largest economy threatens to become insolvent in the middle of the month. The political bickering doesn’t make a good impression, said Randy Frederick, manager at brokerage firm Charles Schwab. It could discourage foreign investors from buying US Treasuries. “If that happened, the yields would go up a lot. And if the yields go up because people don’t want the bonds, it would have a very negative impact on the market.”
Vaccine manufacturers are falling
The joy of investors about encouraging test results for a Covid drug from Merck & Co but could only tarnish this slightly. According to the information, the agent reduces the risk of hospitalization or death in the event of an infection by about half. “It gives people hope that the return to normal will not go off course despite cases of infections in vaccinated people,” said Thomas Hayes, manager at asset manager Great Hill. As a result, shares in the pharmaceutical company rose at times by a good twelve percent to a one and a half year high of $ 84.30.
The Merck drug also fueled speculation that the tourism industry would recover quickly. So the shares of the airlines rose American Airlines, Delta and United by up to six percent. The cruise operator Carnival and Norwegian gained up to five percent. The titles of the online travel agency Booking.com advanced three percent. On the other hand, manufacturers of Covid vaccines came under the wheels. So the shares broke from Biontech by ten percent. The title of the development partner Pfizer gave way one percent. Rival’s papers Moderna fell more than twelve percent.
Dollar rate remains high, Bitcoin on the up
A few dollar investors cashed in on the foreign exchange market. Of the Dollar index, which reflects the exchange rate against major currencies, remained within striking distance of its recent twelve-month high at 94.031 points. “As long as the markets remain convinced that the US Federal Reserve will begin tightening its monetary policy within a reasonable time frame, the dollar should hold up well,” said Societe Generale investment strategist Kit Juckes.
With Bitcoin Investors also stocked up. The oldest and most important cyber currency rose at times by a good ten percent to $ 47,893. “Investors are warming up for a possible year-end rally,” said analyst Timo Emden from Emden Research. Institutional investors in particular took advantage of the previous price losses to gain entry.
Other stockbrokers also expressed relief that the US Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell had emphasized in a congressional hearing that he wanted to regulate cryptocurrencies, but not ban them. Against this background, investors courageously took hold of stocks from the cryptocurrency sector and companies that deal with the blockchain technology on which Bitcoin & Co is based. So the papers rose from Coinbase, Riot, Marathon, Overstock and Silvergate on Wall Street by up to 4.6 percent. The software company’s titles MicroStrategy, which has invested billions in Bitcoin, advanced 5.3 percent.