NEW YORK (dpa-AFX) – The US stock markets came under pressure on Tuesday after a largely stable trend. Investors were increasingly nervous about the expected after-hours numbers from tech giants Microsoft and Google parent Alphabet. The quarterly report from the US regional bank First Republic also reignited concerns about the US banking sector. In addition, the parcel service UPS disappointed with a more cautious outlook. A significant downturn in consumer sentiment in April did the rest.
The Dow Jones (Dow Jones 30 Industrial) ultimately fell by 1.02 percent to 33,530.83 points. The market-wide S&P 500 lost 1.58 percent to 4071.63 points. The technology-heavy selection index NASDAQ 100 lost 1.89 percent to 12,725.11 points.
On the economic side, the data from the housing market was better than expected, but the consumer confidence determined by the Conference Board fell well short of estimates. The indicator was burdened by noticeably clouded expectations, which according to the market research institute continue to point to a recession.
Among the quarterly figures, the report of the First Republic Bank and the result of the DHL competitor (Deutsche Post) UPS (United Parcel Service) came into focus. The First Republic reported a loss of more than $100 billion in deposits for the first quarter, significantly more than expected. The shares of the regional bank, which got into trouble in the wake of the US banking crisis, fell to another record low and ended trading with a minus of almost 50 percent. The price decline since the beginning of the year is now just over 93 percent.
Papers from other regional banks were also pulled down: PacWest Bancorp, for example, lost around 9 percent before the financial institution itself published figures for the first quarter after the market closed. In response to the figures published at the close of trading, the share rose again significantly after the trading session. Western Alliance Bancorp (Western Alliance Bancorporation) lost 5.6 percent.
On the Dow, JPMorgan (JPMorgan ChaseCo) shares fell 2.2 percent and Goldman Sachs 1.3 percent.
In the S&P 100, the UPS papers fell by 10 percent and thus reached the end of the index. In view of the lower volume of shipments, the parcel service became more cautious for the current year. According to quarterly reports, Danaher and GM (General Motors) were also very weak.
In the 30-stock Dow Jones, of the four companies that reported on their current quarter, Dow Inc (Dow), the bottom performer, fell 5.2 percent. The chemicals group continued to feel the reluctance of its customers in the first quarter. As a so-called defensive stock, Verizon managed to jump into the black in the weak overall market. However, the revenue of the telecom group had suffered from a weaker than expected mobile phone business with private customers.
At the fast-food giant McDonald’s (McDonalds), on the other hand, business was going well at the beginning of the year, which brought the share to a record high at the start of trading. However, profit-taking quickly set in. Ultimately, it went down 0.6 percent.
The papers of Microsoft and Alphabet (Alphabet C (ex Google)) each fell by around 2 percent before the eagerly awaited quarterly reports. In a first reaction to the figures presented, the share prices of the two companies rose.
The euro was last traded at $1.0975. The European Central Bank had set the reference rate at 1.1022 (Monday: 1.1002) dollars in Frankfurt in the afternoon. The dollar thus cost 0.9072 (0.9089) euros. On the bond market, the futures contract for ten-year government bonds (T-Note Future) rose by 0.78 percent to 115.77 points. In return, the yield on ten-year government bonds fell to 3.40 percent./ck/zb
— By Claudia Müller, dpa-AFX —