Dow swings to highest level in almost two years
At the end of a strong month on the stock markets, the most important US share indices are moving in different directions. The Dow benefited from strong Salesforce figures and ended trading with a substantial gain. After the Opec+ meeting, oil prices are heading downwards for the time being.
At the end of a strong month for equities, the leading US index Dow Jones closed at a high for the year. It ended trading on Thursday up almost 1.5 percent at 35,9451 points - the highest level since January 2022. The S&P 500 gained 0.4 percent to 4568 points. By contrast, the Nasdaq lost 0.2 per cent and slipped to 14,226 points.
In November, the S&P 500 rose by 8.9 percent, the Dow by 8.8 percent and the Nasdaq by 10.7 percent. Easing price pressure, speculation about a turnaround in interest rates and strong quarterly results have driven the stock markets in recent weeks.
In the US, a pause in interest rate hikes for the Fed's December meeting has been fully priced in and bets for a first rate cut in the spring are increasing. The core PCE index, an inflation measure that the US monetary authorities keep a close eye on, fell to an annual inflation rate of 3.5% in October, down from 3.7% in September. Experts had expected exactly this fall.
Buy recommendation pushes Snap and Pinterest
Investors on the commodity markets looked ahead to the meeting of Opec+, which includes the members of the oil export cartel Opec as well as other producer countries such as Russia. After the end of the Opec+ meeting, oil prices turned negative. Brent fell by 0.3 percent to 82.85 dollars per barrel, while US light oil WTI fell by 2.9 percent to 75.63 dollars. According to delegates, oil producers have agreed on production cuts of almost two million barrels per day (bpd) for the beginning of next year, led by Saudi Arabia, which has continued its current voluntary cut. Russia, Algeria and Kazakhstan also announced further cuts. However, each member decided individually on a voluntary basis; there was no group consensus. Brazil is also to join Opec+ from January.
Salesforce shares jumped 9.3 percent. The cloud-based software company performed better than expected in the third quarter and raised its annual profit forecast. Shares in data cloud company Snowflake rose by more than seven percent after its fourth-quarter revenue forecast exceeded analysts' estimates. Pinterest and Snap benefited from a buy recommendation from analysts at Jefferies. The shares of the social media companies climbed by just under 2.4 and 6.5 percent respectively.
Source: www.ntv.de
