Major Wall Street stock indexes are moving in mixed directions, as investors “weigh” the plans of the US Federal Reserve to tighten monetary policy.
On the dashboard, the industrial Dow Jones declines by 129.35 points or 0.37%, with the widest S&P 500 to gain 3.22 points or 0.08% and the technological Nasdaq to record gains of 26.53 points or 0.21%.
Shares in the utilities, consumer goods and healthcare sectors are making modest gains, with investors seeking shelter stocks, including those of Walmart, Merck and Procter & Gamble. At the forefront of the tech industry, HP shares jumped 15% after it was revealed by regulatory documents that Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway had acquired a stake in the company.
The Fed on Wednesday released the minutes of its monetary policy committee meeting in March, which revealed that its officials plan to cut trillions in its balance sheet by selling bonds worth up to $ 95 billion. officials are considering one or more interest rate hikes of up to 50 basis points if needed to fight inflation.
“Minutes of the last meeting show a higher level of alert than ever before and it looks like the Fed will move faster than expected to reduce its balance sheet,” said Charlie Ripley, chief investment officer at Allianz Investment Management.
Officials “generally agreed” to sell about $ 60 billion worth of US government bonds and about $ 35 billion worth of mortgages over three months, starting in May.
“They seem to be seriously discussing raising interest rates by 50 basis points in the next session, so they make sure the message goes through much earlier,” said Brian Price, chief investment officer at Commonwealth Financial Network. “I expect volatility to remain high for the time being, as there is a lot of uncertainty that investors need to weigh,” he added.
Of course, the war waged by Russia against Ukraine remains on the investment radars, with Kyiv asking NATO for more weapons.
“Meeting Ukraine’s immediate needs, stability in its supply and long-term solutions will help our country win,” Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba said on Twitter.
Of the 30 Dow shares, 9 traded positive and 21 traded negative. The profits are led by those of Merck, Walmart and UnitedHealthwhile those losses of Honeywell International, Boeing and Goldman Sachs.
US: Initial unemployment benefit applications are at their lowest level since 1968
Initial US jobless claims fell to a 54-year low in early April, confirming the strong picture of the US job market.
In particular, initial jobless claims fell by 5,000 to 166,000 for the week ended April 2, from a revised 171,000 last week, according to the Commerce Department.
Analysts’ average estimates in a Bloomberg poll put the applications at 200,000. The latest government figures include annual reviews until 2017.
Ongoing applications, meanwhile, rose slightly to 1.5 million for the week ended March 26th.
Source: Capital
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