NEW YORK (dpa-AFX) – Before the upcoming interest rate decision by the US Federal Reserve, the stock exchanges in New York rose on Tuesday. The Dow Jones Industrial (Dow Jones 30 Industrial) reached its highest level since the beginning of February 2022. At the end of trading, the leading index was only up 0.08 percent to 35,438.07 points. The market-wide and more meaningful S&P 500 climbed as high as it had last been in April 2022 and closed with an increase of 0.28 percent to 4567.46 points.
The tech-heavy NASDAQ 100, which had lagged the standard a bit the day before, was up 0.73 percent to 15,561.42 points. After the market closed, the tech heavyweights Alphabet (Alphabet A (ex Google)) and Microsoft, among others, presented quarterly reports. Microsoft gave in after hours, Alphabet posted significant premiums.
In addition to the quarterly figures, investors’ attention is now increasingly focused on the Fed, which is very likely to raise its key interest rate again on Wednesday. After the interest rate pause in June, most economists expect an increase of 0.25 percentage points. Interest rates are currently in a range of 5.00 to 5.25 percent. Signals for further action are eagerly awaited. Many economists assume that the rate hike in July could initially have been the last. Rising interest rates tend to weigh on equities because other, lower-risk investments then become more attractive.
At the top of the Dow Index, 3M gained 5.3 percent. The conglomerate exceeded expectations with its second-quarter profit and then raised its full-year outlook. The cost cuts appear to be having an effect.
The chemical group Dow frightened the market with a significant drop in sales and earnings. But analysts had expected worse. The papers increased by 1.8 percent.
Bad news from Pratt & Whitney caused shares in parent company Raytheon Technologies to plummet by 10.2 percent. A lack of material causes problems for the daughter. This is due to possible problems with a metal powder used to manufacture certain engine parts.
General Electric is more upbeat on adjusted free cash flow than previously, which pushed the conglomerate’s shares up 6.3 percent.
The carmaker General Motors (GM) (General Motors) was unable to convince investors with a jump in profits and a renewed earnings target: the shares fell by 3.5 percent.
The most recent correction continued for Spotify titles, which have been doing well since the beginning of the year: shares in the audio streaming service fell by a further 14.3 percent. Apparently, the missed sales expectations weighed more heavily on investors than the surprisingly good development in user numbers. Customer growth is bought at a high price, according to DZ Bank.
The euro came under pressure on Tuesday after weak economic data from Germany. After the close in New York, the common currency was trading at $1.1052. The European Central Bank (ECB) had set the reference rate at 1.1051 (Monday: 1.1096) dollars. The dollar cost 0.9049 (0.9012) euros. On the bond market, the futures contract for ten-year government bonds (T-Note Future) lost 0.20 percent to 111.84 points. The yield on ten-year US government bonds was 3.89 percent./ajx/he
— By Achim Jüngling, dpa-AFX —