NEW YORK (dpa-AFX) – There was little movement at a high level for the New York stock exchanges on Thursday. An hour before the start of trading, the broker IG estimated the Dow Jones Industrial virtually unchanged at 46,607 points and the NASDAQ 100 selection index slightly in the red at 25,123 points.
By midweek, both the Nasdaq technology exchange indices and the market-wide S&P 500 had set new records and closed with profits. Both were denied to the ultimately stagnating Dow Jones leading index – the record high from last Friday still stands. Given the high valuations, investors are likely to take a close look at the upcoming reporting season to see whether corporate profits can keep pace, wrote strategist Aidan Yao from the Amundi Investment Institute.
Meanwhile, David Kruk, head of trading at La Financière de l’Echiquier, advises using price setbacks as an entry opportunity. The combination of robust economic growth, inflation that is no longer problematic and positive developments in corporate profits provide the perfect investment background. Doubts about the price rally are understandable, “but I don’t see any concrete reason to sell.”
NVIDIA shares are once again on a record course with a pre-market increase of 2 percent to just under $193. According to informed sources, the US government approved the chip manufacturer’s exports worth billions of dollars to the United Arab Emirates. They had previously announced concrete plans for investments of the same amount on American soil, said a US official who did not want to comment on specific figures. According to the financial news agency Bloomberg, there has so far been no statement from the United Arab Emirates and Nvidia.
The US financial services provider Cantor Fitzgerald increased its price target for Nvidia shares from $240 to $300, making it the most optimistic on the market at the moment. The analysts justified their assessment that the expansion of the AI infrastructure with trillions in investments is just beginning.
Outside of tech, Delta Air Lines made headlines with better-than-expected quarterly results. The airline also expects business development at the upper end of its target ranges for 2025 and robust demand into the coming year. The shares rose by 6.9 percent and pulled up the share prices of competitors United, American and Southwest Airlines.
The soft drinks manufacturer PepsiCo also exceeded expectations for the last quarter and confirmed its outlook. The shares rewarded this with a premarket price increase of 0.9 percent.
Next week, big names from the financial industry such as Goldman Sachs and Citigroup will report on their business development. The electric car manufacturer Tesla is the first company from the stock market heavyweights club “Magnificent Seven” with quarterly figures on October 22nd, followed by the tech giants Alphabet (Alphabet A (ex Google)), Microsoft and Meta (Meta Platforms (ex Facebook)) a week later./gl/mis