US stock markets' rally is dampened
The recovery rally on the US stock markets comes to a halt: The US stock markets end trading with slight losses. The publication of the minutes of the latest Fed meeting played less of a role than the gloomy outlook from various US retailers.
Following the publication of the Fed minutes, the US stock markets closed in the red. The Dow Jones index of blue chips closed 0.2 percent lower at 35,088 points. The technology-heavy Nasdaq fell 0.6 percent to 14,199 points. The broad-based S&P 500 lost 0.2 percent to 4538 points.
The publication of the minutes of the latest meeting of the US Federal Reserve (Fed) at the beginning of November hardly played a role on the market. After a series of aggressive interest rate hikes, the Fed is now cautious, as can be seen from the minutes. All those involved agreed that they were now in a position to proceed cautiously. However, if progress towards the inflation target of two percent is deemed "insufficient", further tightening of monetary policy would be appropriate in the view of the monetary authorities. On the futures markets, however, it is expected that this will not happen and that interest rates will be cut next year. An easing is already considered likely by traders for May 2024 and is fully priced in for June.
A series of negative forecasts from US retailers painted a gloomy picture for consumer spending. There were long faces among Kohl's investors in the face of shrinking sales in the quarter. Shares in the department store chain lost almost nine percent. More pessimistic outlooks from Lowe' s and Best Buy caused the shares of the DIY chain to fall by more than three percent and the electronics retailer by around one percent. American Eagle Outfitters plummeted by almost 16 percent after an equally gloomy forecast. Things went better for sports retailers Dick's Sporting Goods and Hibbett, which both raised their annual targets. The shares gained 2.2 and almost ten percent respectively.
In the tech sector, investors were eagerly awaiting the quarterly figures of chip designer Nvidia, which are due after the close of trading. Market participants are expecting another strong sales forecast. However, the focus will be on the impact of the extended US restrictions on the sale of its high-end chips to China. The figures are seen as a test for big tech stocks, whose rise has accounted for most of the S&P 500's gains this year. Shares in Nvidia fell by just under one percent in the run-up. Other mega-cap stocks such as Intel and Microsoft also slipped by up to 2.4 percent.
Amazon shares fell by 1.5 percent to 143.9 dollars. According to a report by CNBC, CEO Jeff Bezos is planning to put more shares on the market. Bezos could sell eight to ten million shares worth more than one billion dollars in the online retailer on Tuesday, according to the report.
The Dow Jones index, one of the key indicators of US share trading on Wall Street, closed lower following the Fed minutes public release. Share prices of several prominent retailers, such as Kohl's and Best Buy, also saw a decline due to their pessimistic outlooks.
Source: www.ntv.de
