NEW YORK (dpa-AFX) – The US stock markets continued their rally towards record highs on Wednesday following monetary policy statements from the US Federal Reserve. The central bankers lowered their inflation expectations for this year and the new year. It also emerged that the monetary authorities expect key interest rate cuts by a total of 0.75 percentage points in 2024.
Around two hours before the close of trading, the most famous Wall Street index, the Dow Jones Industrial (Dow Jones 30 Industrial), rose by 0.55 percent to 36,778.62 points, further approaching its record high. He achieved this at the beginning of 2022 at just over 36,950 points.
The market-wide S&P 500 gained 0.59 percent to 4,670.92 points. The technology-heavy NASDAQ 100 rose by 0.61 percent to 16,454.54 points. The selection index reached its record high at around 16,765 points at the end of November 2021.
The Fed was the first to make a decision in “Federal Bank Week”. On Thursday the central banks will follow suit Eurozone and from Great Britain.
On the corporate side, attention was focused on Pfizer shares (Pfizer), which fell by just over 8 percent in the S&P 100. The pharmaceutical company fell short of expectations with its sales and profit target for 2024. The shares of vaccine partner Biontech (BioNTech (ADRs)) were affected and lost around 5 percent.
Tesla (Tesla) lost 2.4 percent. According to a decision by the highest US automobile safety authority, the electric car manufacturer must update the software for the “Autopilot” assistance system in two million vehicles. After a year-long investigation, deficiencies in preventing abuse were identified. It’s about ensuring that drivers pay enough attention to traffic.
Linde (Linde), which had reached a record high in the S&P 100 the day before, was now the second weakest stock after Pfizer, losing 4.3 percent. On Tuesday, the German industrial gas manufacturer’s shares had risen to around $434.
Meanwhile, US Steel (United States Steel) rose by 5.6 percent to $38.40. According to news channel CNBC, which cites unnamed sources, the steel company considering a sale has received several takeover bids above $40 per share.
Take-Two Interactive (Take Two) gained 3.2 percent and benefited from the fact that the computer games developer will be included in the Nasdaq 100 from Monday. The reason for the rise is that Pfizer will probably complete the takeover of the biotech company Seagen, which is still listed in the selection index, on December 14th./ck/men