Mixed Signs on the Wall – The tech industry is trying to react

LAST UPDATE: 18.15

Wall is moving in mixed directions on Thursday, with the technology industry trying to react after the worst sell-off in recent months in the US market, in the wake of the publication of the minutes of the last meeting of the US Federal Reserve. its monetary policy.

Publication of the minutes from the last meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee (FMOC) The Fed fell to the Wall yesterday, with the Nasdaq recording the biggest daily drop in 11 months. According to the minutes, among the Federal Reserve officials not only the acceleration of the reduction of interest rates, but also the shrinkage of the Fed balance sheet, amounting to 8.9 trillion. dollars.

The minutes provided more details on the Fed’s shift in December to a more aggressive monetary policy. The policy makers agreed to hasten the end of the emergency bond-buying program that was implemented in the midst of the pandemic and estimated that they expect three interest rate hikes of 25 basis points each in 2022.

“It is clear that the Fed will raise interest rates while it expects to normalize its portfolio,” former Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin told Fox Business Network. “The issue is how fast he will do it,” he added.

“Growth companies have been the main beneficiaries of the extremely low real and nominal interest rates, which have pushed valuations to high levels. “We saw it on Wednesday,” said Mark Haefele, UBS’s chief investment officer.

In the meantime, his performance 10-year US government bond is strengthened by 3 basis points to 1.73%, while since the beginning of the week it has climbed by more than 21 bp. also pushing technology and growth stocks. The dollar notes losses of 0.2%.

In macro of the day, initial US unemployment benefit applications increased in the last week of 2021 at a faster pace than economists expected, despite wider signs of improvement in the US labor market, amid the “turmoil” caused by rising coronavirus cases. New unemployment benefit applications for the week ended Jan. 1, 2022, rose to 207,000, up 7,000, according to data released by the US Department of Labor.

In addition, the jump in US imports in November led to a widening of the country’s trade deficit, which is on track to record the highest annual trade deficit in its history. Particularly, The trade deficit in November amounted to 80.2 billion. $ 67.2 billion, which was the revised measure for October, according to data released by the US Department of Commerce on Thursday.

The orders in US factories strengthened in November, with the country’s Ministry of Commerce announcing that they had increased by 1.6%. Data for October were revised upwards showing an increase of orders by 1.2% instead of 1% as previously mentioned. Economists estimated that factory orders would increase by 1.5%.

Indicators – Statistics

On the dashboard, the industrial Dow loses 0.3% to 36,230 points, the widest S&P 500 increased by 0.23% to 4,710 units and the technological Nasdaq adds 0.64% to 15,210.

From 30 shares that make up the Dow, 14 move with a positive sign and 16 with a negative. Travelers Cos (+ 1.83%) and JPMorgan (+ 1.05%) lead the gains, while IBM (-2.16%), United Health Group (-2.1%) and Boeing record the biggest losses. (-1.23%).

Bed Bath & Beyond announced unexpected losses for the third quarter and sales that did not meet expectations. However, its share jumps over 11%.

The retail pharmacy company Walgreens Boots Alliance is losing 0.38%, although the results it announced for the first quarter exceeded expectations and revised upwards its forecast for the year.