Dow Jones closes in positive territory
A weak economy is making investors nervous
04/05/2023, 10:45 p.m
Be it the service sector or industry, the US economy is weakening. Tech stocks are under pressure. Recession fears are spreading among stockbrokers. However, there is also some hope regarding the Fed’s interest rate policy.
Further weak US economic data dampened sentiment on Wall Street. The Dow Jones Index standard values were higher by 0.24 percent and amounted to 33,482.72 points. Wider S&P 500 gave 0.25 percent to 4090.38 points. Technology Exchange Index Nasdaq lost 1.07 percent to 11,996.86 jobs. According to analysts, economic indicators over the past two days have fueled fears of a recession.
After a drop in U.S. industrial orders on Tuesday, the services PMI released on Wednesday “continued the streak,” said Constantin Oldenburger, an analyst at brokerage CMC Markets. The index fell to 51.2 points – the lowest level in more than two years. Experts polled by Reuters had expected a decline to 54.5 points from 55.1 points in February. The barometer shows growth for 50 points.
Data from HR services provider ADP on job growth in the US private sector in March also caused concern. At 145,000 new jobs, they were weaker than the average analyst forecast for an increase of 200,000 jobs. “Wall Street investors see that the economy is really slowing down,” said Sam Stovall, chief investment strategist at research firm CFRA in New York.
Recession fears are outweighing hopes that weak data could prompt the US Federal Reserve to raise rates less. The ADP data is expected to lead to the announcement of the official government jobs report later in the week, which will include public sector jobs in addition to private sector jobs. Economists polled by Reuters had expected an increase of 240,000 jobs, after 311,000 in February. As the country’s stock markets are closed on Good Friday and Easter Monday, investors can only react on Tuesday.
Concerns about the economy are putting pressure on technology stocks. Industry giants like it Tesla, Amazon, Microsoft, Netflix and the mother of Facebook Meta lost from 0.86 to 3.67 percent. For other individual stocks, the stock rose by Johnson and Johnson down 4.52 percent to $165.66. A subsidiary of a US pharmaceutical and consumer goods maker has again filed for bankruptcy amid a scandal surrounding baby powder that is believed to be contaminated with asbestos.
Downgrade, on the other hand, set Albemarle– Stock under pressure. Papers of the world’s largest producer of lithium lost 6.12% to 196.75 dollars. Experts of the analytical firm BofA Global Research put the name “Weak efficiency” after the previous “Neutral”. The price target was also cut to $195 from $262 previously. The reason, among other things, is the prospect of a decrease in the spot price of lithium in China.