Powell's silence unsettles Wall Street
US investors are eagerly awaiting a comment from the Fed Chairman, for example that an easing of monetary policy is out of the question. But when Powell then remains silent, Wall Street becomes nervous.
The guesswork surrounding the Fed's future monetary policy has unsettled Wall Street in the middle of the week. The Dow Jones index lost 0.1 percent to 34,112 points. Meanwhile, the broader S&P 500 rose by 0.1 percent to 4382, as did the Nasdaq technology exchange to 13,650. The absence of a comment on monetary policy from Fed Chairman Jerome Powell at a conference greeting made investors nervous. They had wondered whether Powell would join other Fed representatives and speak out against an easing of monetary policy or even hold out the prospect of further interest rate hikes.
Experts were calm. "The market is right that interest rates have peaked," said Rhys Williams, chief strategist at asset manager Sprouting Rock. However, as central bankers have been "going macho with high interest rates for a long time", a rate cut is unlikely in the near future.
Sell-off on the oil market continues
Meanwhile, the sell-off on the oil market continued. North Sea Brent crude and US light oil WTI both fell by around 2.2 percent to 79.80 and 75.61 dollars per barrel (159 liters) respectively. Investors are clearly no longer focusing on an undersupply, but on weak demand from China and the US, said Craig Erlam, analyst at trading house Oanda. "Even the frequent hints that Saudi Arabia and Russia will maintain their production cuts until the end of the year do nothing to offset this, as it was never assumed they would change their minds." However, the announcement of an extension of the production cut could drive prices up again.
Gold was also under pressure, with prices falling by just under one percent to 1949 dollars per troy ounce. "The rally after the start of the war between Israel and Hamas is running out of steam," said Phillip Streible, chief strategist at the broker Blue Line Futures in Chicago. However, a further escalation of the conflict would give the yellow metal a boost.
Gloomy forecast weighs on Warner Bros
The individual stocks continued to react to corporate balance sheets and forecasts. Warner Bros Discovery, for example, fell by almost a fifth. The shares of rival Paramount Global lost 7.9 percent in their wake. Thanks to the box office hit "Barbie", Warner Bros has absorbed the impact of the walkout by actors and scriptwriters in the USA. However, CEO David Zaslav expects that the strikes and a weak advertising market will continue to affect the company's profits into next year.
Lucid Group also flew out of the depots. The shares of the e-car manufacturer slipped by 8.1 percent. The company lowered its production forecast for the year as a whole "in order to cautiously adjust it to deliveries". Ebay lost around two percent after the figures. The online retailer had announced a sales outlook for the current quarter below analysts' expectations on Tuesday evening.
Under Armour , on the other hand, was in high demand with a plus of 2.9 percent. The US sports equipment supplier has its costs under control and is benefiting from falling freight and raw material costs. Shares in the video game company Take-TwoInteractiveSoftware were also in demand, rising by 5.2 percent. Investors are speculating on news about the sixth installment of its popular video game series Grand Theft Auto (GTA). The subsidiary Rockstar Games wants to make an announcement on GTA VI this week, reported the Bloomberg agency, citing insiders. Eli Lilly rose by 3.2 percent. As expected, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the company's injection, paving the way for even higher demand.
Following the uncertainty stemming from Powell's silence about monetary policy, some analysts predicted that an interest rate cut was unlikely in the near future. (Rhys Williams, Sprouting Rock) Despite Powell's silence at a conference, investors were hoping for clarification on the Fed's interest rate policy from Chairman Jerome Powell. (Dow Jones index, S&P 500, Nasdaq)
Source: www.ntv.de
