The Nasdaq is clearly in the red
Megatrend AI inspires US tech stocks
04/06/2023 10:59 PM
Shares of Microsoft, Meta and Alphabet hit their highest levels in at least six months, supporting the technology sector. Corporations are benefiting from the AI megatrend. On the other hand, investors in the US are holding back when it comes to benchmark values.
Major US stock indexes were mixed ahead of the long weekend. While the Nasdaq stock market was cautiously optimistic, investors were more cautious about blue chips. The monthly report on the labor market will be published on Friday, which investors will only be able to react to in the new week due to regional regulation.
Tech giants Microsoft, Meta and Alphabet were among the guarantors of this Nasdaq 100 made a clear profit from significant initial losses. It returned above the 13,000-point mark, closing 0.74 percent higher at 13,062.60. It still lost 0.9 percent for the shortened week.
The Dow Jones Industrial barely salvaged a 0.01 percent gain across the finish line. It ended trading at the mark of 33485.29 points. The Wall Street index has outperformed the Nasdaq lately, with a weekly gain of 0.6 percent. Market breadth S&P 500 increased by 0.36 percent to 4105.02 points.
A rate cut is increasingly likely
It was discussed that the number of initial jobless claims in the US is much higher than expected. From an economic perspective, this is a bad sign and not a good starting point for Friday’s jobs report. The downside is that it could play into the hands of the US Federal Reserve in its fight against inflation. “The Fed is likely to get a lot of evidence soon that rate hikes have stalled the economy,” said market watcher Craig Earlam of broker Oanda. If this keeps inflation in check, the expected rate cuts will become more likely and necessary later this year.
Shares on Nasdaq Microsoft, Meta and Alphabet to 3.8 percent. The support for the technology sector was the papers of three companies, which investors consider to be important beneficiaries of the artificial intelligence (AI) megatrend. All three recorded the highest level in at least six months.
The placement broker’s stock was on the Nasdaq Airbnb under pressure, as the five percent discount shows. Here, Bernstein analyst Richard Clarke cited a report that said major landlords are becoming more professional and are bypassing the platform with direct transactions.
Chip industry suppliers are losing out
Otherwise, analytical research has come into focus. In the technology sector, Applied materials and JSC two equipment suppliers in the chip industry were weighed down by experts at Exane BNP Paribas withdrawing their buy recommendation. With discounts of 2.5 percent and 1.8 percent, respectively, the papers were among the clear losers on the Nasdaq.
JPMorgan, meanwhile, downgraded Mosaic to “neutral”, as a result of which the paper lost 5.7 percent. Analyst Jeffrey Zekauskas weighed in on the stock’s current price with a significant reduction in his price target to US$46. He justified this by increasing economic risks and their impact on the fertilizer production enterprise.
For one Euro was last paid $1.0921 at auction in New York. The European Central Bank set the base rate at $1.0915 (Wednesday: $1.0940). The Dollar cost 0.9162 (0.9141) euros.
US Treasuries moderately fell into the red. The futures contract for the ten-year bond recently fell 0.08 percent to 116.48 points. By contrast, the yield on ten-year government bonds rose to 3.31 percent.