NEW YORK (dpa-AFX) – Investors on the US stock exchanges responded to the news of the end of the government shutdown with losses on Thursday. The Nasdaq stock exchange was hit particularly hard with the technology stocks concentrated there, but standard stocks also came under pressure again after the previous day’s record set by the Dow Jones Industrial. There is now uncertainty among investors regarding the economic situation and further interest rate cuts by the US Federal Reserve.
The Dow lost 1.34 percent to 47,610 points with two hours to go. The leading index slipped back below the 48,000 point mark, which it had clearly left behind on Wednesday. Recently, the US leading index had performed better than its index colleagues and this was the case again on Thursday. While the S&P 500 fell by 1.62 percent to 6,740 points, the NASDAQ 100 fell by 2.26 percent to 24,940 points.
The “Magnificent 7”, i.e. the seven best-known tech giants, all of which recently lost at different rates, are considered a symbol of the Nasdaq, which is under pressure. Their high rating is further questioned. Tesla shares suffered the most with a price slide of 7.6 percent, followed by NVIDIA with a price loss of almost five percent. The iPhone manufacturer Apple was only slightly in the red.
As far as the so-called shutdown is concerned, US President Donald Trump put the interim budget into effect. After the end, stock market traders would have to expect that there could be poor economic data from the USA again, said market expert Andreas Lipkow. In the past few weeks, many important key figures have been canceled due to the government blockade, including the job reports, which are particularly important for the Fed.
There were positive and negative values in the Dow. At the top were Cisco shares, which rose by 4.8 percent. After a surprisingly good first quarter, the network supplier is looking more positively at the entire financial year. JPMorgan analyst Samik Chatterjee wrote that the outlook exudes confidence in key areas.
As the biggest Dow loser, Walt Disney’s shares fell by almost eight percent. The entertainment giant’s fourth quarter revenue missed analysts’ expectations. In addition, high costs for new films are likely to weigh on the current quarter, the company said.
At Nike, an analyst comment moved the price further upwards. The sporting goods company’s titles are heading for their third day of profit in a row, with a recent increase of 2.6 percent. They benefited from an upgrade to “Overweight” by the major bank Wells Fargo.
A bigger loser in the small cap sector was Biontech (BioNTech (ADRs)) with a loss of six percent. The shares of the Mainz-based pharmaceutical company listed in the USA were under pressure because of a circular report from the Bloomberg news agency that the corona vaccine partner Pfizer wanted to sell its remaining shares. Its shares showed little movement.
The day is even bleaker for investors in Ardent Health (Ardent Health Partners), as the price fell by a third to a record low. The healthcare provider caught its investors on the wrong foot by cutting its forecast for the adjusted annual operating result./tih/he