MARKETS USA/Heavy losses – Amazon triggers massive profit-taking

NEW YORK (Dow Jones) — Participants on the US stock exchanges took profits at a hefty rate as the month ended. The Dow Jones index closed 2.8 percent lower at 32,977 points, the S&P 500 was 3.6 percent lighter. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite fell 4.2 percent. The Nasdaq recorded the strongest monthly setback since 2008. There were a total of 603 (Thursday: 2,552) price winners and 2,716 (798) losers. 122 (115) titles closed unchanged.

While on Thursday the quarterly report from Facebook parent Meta made investors optimistic, especially for the technology sector, the figures from Amazon (-14%) now show that confidence may have been premature. The online mail order company ended the first quarter with a loss. The negative result reflects general economic trends: declining online purchases, high inflation and supply chain problems.

Apple (-3.7%) not only provided reasons for celebration. Although the iPhone manufacturer performed better than expected in its second quarter of the year, it warns of high sales losses in the current quarter as a result of the lockdowns in China.

Although Intel (-6.9%) exceeded its own targets and market expectations in the first quarter, it “only” confirmed the outlook.

But there are also companies that are more confident in the current year. For example, Honeywell (+1.9%) raised its outlook when it presented figures that were above expectations. On the other hand, the two oil companies Chevron (-3.2%) and Exxon Mobil (-2.2%) failed to meet expectations.

Economic data offered little distraction from the balance sheet season. The personal income and expenses for March were published, each of which rose more sharply than expected. The increase in expenditure was somewhat more pronounced. High inflation is likely to have had an impact here. The labor cost index for the first quarter also rose somewhat more than expected. The Chicago-area Purchasing Managers’ Index and the Uni-Michigan Index of Consumer Sentiment at second reading, both for April, came in below forecast.

Profit-taking also in dollars

The dollar saw profit-taking on Friday. In the past few days, the US currency had benefited from the upcoming interest rate hikes by the US central bank, but was also sought after as a safe haven against the background of political and economic uncertainty. After the dollar index rose to its highest level in almost 20 years, it was ripe for consolidation, ING said. The dollar index is currently down 0.4 percent.

Bond sales picked up following the income and spending data, which was reflected in rising yields. Traders pointed to March’s rise in the PCE price index, the US Federal Reserve’s preferred price measure. He is likely to have an impact on the Fed’s interest rate decision next week. 10- and 30-year yields posted their highest monthly gains since 2009 in April.

Gold rose slightly, which observers explained with fears of inflation and doubts about Europe’s energy supply.

Oil prices tended to be inconsistent. Brent further benefited as Germany gave up its opposition to a ban on Russian oil imports. The WTI variety, on the other hand, gave way. Market participants warned that the ongoing lockdowns in China will significantly reduce demand for oil and thus limit price increases.

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INDEX last +/-% absolute +/-% YTD

DJIA 32,977.21 -2.8% -939.18 -9.3%

S&P 500 4,131.93 -3.6% -155.57 -13.3%

Nasdaq Comp. 12,334.64 -4.2% -536.89 -21.2%

Nasdaq-100 12,854.80 -4.5% -601.25 -21.2%

US Bonds

Term Yield Bp to VT Yield VT +/-Bp YTD

2 years 2.72 +10.6 2.62 199.3

5 years 2.96 +12.2 2.84 170.0

7 years 2.97 +10.5 2.86 152.6

10 years 2.91 +8.5 2.82 139.9

30 years 2.98 +8.3 2.89 107.6

FOREX last +/- % Fri 8:05am Thu 5:25pm % YTD

EUR/USD 1.0546 +0.4% 1.0539 1.0524 -7.3%

EUR/JPY 136.90 -0.4% 137.44 137.70 +4.6%

EUR/CHF 1.0262 +0.5% 1.0228 1.0214 -1.1%

EUR/GBP 0.8387 -0.5% 0.8415 0.8448 -0.2%

USD/JPY 129.82 -0.8% 130.44 130.85 +12.8%

GBP/USD 1.2574 +0.9% 1.2523 1.2457 -7.1%

USD/CNH (Offshore) 6.6446 -0.2% 6.6390 6.6637 +4.6%

Bitcoin

BTC/USD 38,441.67 -3.5% 39,519.22 39,727.88 -16.9%

ROHOEL last VT-Settl. +/- % +/- USD % YTD

WTI/Nymex 104.31 105.36 -1.0% -1.05 +42.2%

Brent/ICE 109.40 107.59 +1.7% 1.81 +42.9%

METALS last day before +/- % +/- USD % YTD

Gold (Spot) 1,896.44 1,894.44 +0.1% +2.00 +3.7%

Silver (Spot) 22.75 23.15 -1.7% -0.40 -2.4%

Platinum (Spot) 946.83 922.98 +2.6% +23.86 -2.4%

Copper Future 4.38 4.43 -1.1% -0.05 -1.7%

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DJG/raz

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

April 29, 2022 16:10 ET (20:10 GMT)