US stock markets go into reverse gear
After a strong run in recent weeks, the US stock markets are heading downwards again for the time being. Investors are taking profits on technology stocks in particular. Bitcoin, on the other hand, is benefiting from speculation about upcoming interest rate cuts.
After the recent record-breaking run, investors on Wall Street started the week with profit-taking. The Dow Jones index of blue chips fell by 0.1 percent to 36,204 points. The broader S&P 500 retreated by 0.5 percent to just under 4,570 points, having previously climbed to its highest closing level this year. The Nasdaq technology index suffered the biggest losses, falling 0.8 percent to 14,185 points.
Investors were waiting for a series of economic data this week in order to better assess the future interest rate path of the US Federal Reserve. "At this point, no one is expecting further rate hikes," said Joe Saluzzi of Themis Trading. Investors are hoping to draw further conclusions about the Fed's interest rate course from the US labor market report for November, which is due at the end of the week. Market participants will be focusing on whether the US central bank succeeds in getting inflation under control and averting a recession at the same time. US industry received fewer orders in October. Orders fell by 3.6% compared to the previous month, which was more than economists had expected. The US industry also continued its downward slide in November.
Dollar and US yields rise
After the prospect of falling interest rates pushed the dollar index down by around three percent in November, it rose by 0.5 percent to 103.62 points at the start of the week. The world's leading currency could recover even further, said Colin Asher, economist at lender Mizuho. "We see scope for a turnaround by the end of the year." Yields on ten-year US government bonds also recovered from their three-month low, rising to as high as 4.257 percent from 4.224 percent previously.
Speculation about US interest rate cuts also caused Bitcoin to briefly jump above USD 42,000 for the first time since April 2022. At its peak, the world's largest cryptocurrency rose by almost nine percent to 42,162 dollars. At the close on Wall Street, it stood at around 41,700 dollars. In addition to the interest rate bets, the main tailwind was the prospect that US regulators could soon allow exchange-traded Bitcoin funds. Bitcoin has thus gained around 50% in value since mid-October, but is still a long way from the record high of 69,000 dollars reached at the end of 2021.
The prospect of higher profits due to falling costs also prompted investors to buy into Spotify. The music streaming service announced the elimination of around 1,500 jobs, marking the third time within a year that employees have been laid off. The shares rose by 11.5 percent at the peak and reached their highest level in almost two years. The share closed almost 7.5 percent higher.
In contrast, the planned takeover of rival Hawaiian Holdings pushed the shares of US airline Alaska Air down by 14.2 percent. Alaska wants to buy Hawaiian for 18 dollars per share - almost four times the closing price on Friday. The premium reflects how battered Hawaiian's shares have been recently. The forest fires on Maui, high kerosene prices and recalls of engines on some Airbus aircraft used by Hawaiian contributed to a 65 percent drop in the share price over the last twelve months.
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Source: www.ntv.de
