Analysts expect the US Federal Reserve to announce another rate hike on Wednesday. Investors on Wall Street are therefore holding back with investments – despite positive economic data. However, Uber stock is making a mighty leap higher.
After a firm start, interest rate worries quickly returned to Wall Street, pushing indices into the red. Initially, hopes of a more moderate interest rate hike by the US Federal Reserve from December dominated, before the new US economic data turned out to be better than expected in many cases. Among other things, the number of vacancies in September was higher than expected and two purchasing managers’ indices rose in October compared to September.
At the end of the day, the Dow Jones index was down 0.2 percent to 32,653 points. The S
Stockbrokers firmly believe that the Fed will raise interest rates by 0.75 percentage points for the fourth time in a row on Wednesday. The focus is therefore on signals that could indicate a lower interest rate hike in December. “If the Fed says it thinks the actions it has already taken have shown that the economy is slowing down and that it is on the right track, those types of comments would be interpreted positively,” said Sam Stovall, chief investment strategist by the research house CFRA.
According to the information, the number of vacancies rose by 437,000 to 10.7 million in September. This means that there are almost two possible jobs for every registered unemployed person in the USA. Experts assume that employees use this to negotiate higher wages. This keeps inflationary pressure high. “The good news on vacancies is bad news for everyone else if it pushes the Fed to hike rates even faster and further,” said Christopher Rupkey, chief economist at research house FWDBONDS. It is unclear whether the high number of vacancies could prevent a possible recession in the USA.
Goodyear fell about 15 percent on the stock market. The tire manufacturer failed to meet expectations in the third quarter and spoke of ongoing burdens from inflation and the strength of the dollar. Pfizer rose by 3.1 percent. The pharmaceutical giant expects higher sales of its corona vaccine for the year as a whole than before. This also boosted the course of the German vaccine partner Biontech (4.7 percent).
Uber Technologies’ stock jumped 12 percent after the mobility services provider beat expectations with third-quarter revenue and provided an upbeat outlook. In the wake, the competitor paper Lyft went up by 3.5 percent. Arista Networks gained 5.7 percent. The network technology manufacturer had also presented unexpectedly good quarterly figures and raised its outlook.
The reporting season, which has so far been surprisingly positive, also contributed to the initially good mood on the stock market. There were also encouraging reports that China could ease its zero-Covid policy. The latter benefited oil prices, which rose by around 2 percent. If the lockdown measures that hamper growth in China are eased, that should fuel oil demand, it said.
The US gas price continued to be very volatile. After the sharp increase on the previous day, it fell back sharply by around 8 percent. Participants referred to the gas liquefaction at Freeport LNG, which had not yet started again after an explosion in June. Elsewhere, the mild weather was singled out as a drag on gas demand.
