Key Wall Street indexes immediately changed signals on Thursday, moving into positive territory, against the background of the two-day rally and the first increase in interest rates of the Federal Reserve from 2018, with the central bank simultaneously opening the door to a rather aggressive approach. in the coming months to bring the fastest inflation of the last 40 years under control.
The US Federal Reserve raised interest rates by 25 basis points yesterday, confirming analysts’ estimates that the enormous geopolitical uncertainty from the war in Ukraine leaves no room for a more aggressive increase by 50 basis points.
At the same time, the Fed has shown that it expects another six interest rate hikes in 2022, with the chairman of the central bank reiterating that he will not allow high inflation to be consolidated in the US economy. The successive increases in US interest rates, however, are expected to test the resilience of the US economy, at the same time as adversity in the international environment is rising sharply.
The climate today, however, is aggravated by the new rally in oil prices, after three days of losses, with the WTI climbing again above the psychological level of $ 100 a barrel with a jump of 6%.
Indicators – Statistics
On the board, after a bearish opening for all three indices, the Dow Jones strengthened slightly by 23 points or 0.07% to 34,086 points. The S&P 500 is up 11.15 points or 0.26% at 4,369 points, while the tech Nasdaq continues to have the best performance with gains of 62.8 points or 0.47% at 13,499 points.
Of the 30 stocks that make up the Dow Jones industrial average, 10 are moving with a positive sign and 20 with a negative. The largest increase was recorded by American Express with gains of $ 4.6 or + 2.5% at $ 185, followed by Chevron with + 1.09%, Merck with 1.08% and Amgen with +0.93 %.
The shares with the biggest losses are Travelers (-1.2%), Boeing (0.85%) and Goldman Sachs (-0.87%).
Meanwhile, Russian military bombardment of Ukraine continues as the war enters its fourth week, although the two sides continue their contacts in an effort to reach a peace agreement.
US President Joe Biden has called Vladimir Putin a “war criminal”, while Washington has given the green light for new military aid to Ukraine. Meanwhile, Congress has begun preparing for new sanctions against Russia.
At the end of the day, data released today showed that initial unemployment benefit applications fell by 15,000 in the week ended March 12, to 214,000.
At the same time, house starts rose 6.8% in February to 1.77 million, while the Philadelphia Fed manufacturing index rose to 27.4 points in March from 16 points a month earlier.
Source: Capital
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