NEW YORK (dpa-AFX) – After the previous day’s losses, investors on the US stock exchanges remain cautious on Thursday. The Dow Jones Industrial (Dow Jones 30 Industrial) was 0.23 percent higher in early trading at 34,845.46 points, but there was no real desire to buy again. The market-wide S&P 500 increased by 0.15 percent to 4410.88 points. Price gains at Cisco were helpful due to the IT equipment supplier’s strong quarterly figures.
The technology-heavy NASDAQ 100, however, was not able to maintain its first gains for long: At 14,869.16 points, it was last listed 0.05 percent lower. The day before, it had fallen particularly sharply on the realization that the US Federal Reserve was leaving the door open for further interest rate hikes
Current economic data underpinned the robust economy in the US and should give further grist to the mills of those who fear another rate hike by the Fed in September. The business climate in the economic region of Philadelphia brightened up surprisingly and significantly in August in a monthly comparison. In addition, the number of initial jobless claims in the US has fallen, indicating that the labor market will remain robust./tih/he