Rising corona infection numbers are raising the mood in the US markets – the seven-day incidence in the US is at its highest level since the beginning of February. This is also reflected on Wall Street.
After new price records at the beginning of the week, the corona pandemic put the US stock markets under pressure on Tuesday. In addition, there was surprisingly weak data from the important retail sector.
The leading index Dow Jones Industrial, which had reached another record high in the last few minutes of trading the previous day, lost 0.79 percent to 35,343.28 points.
The market-wide S&P 500, which had also reached a record high at the beginning of the week, fell 0.71 percent to 4448.08 points. The technology-heavy Nasdaq 100 fell 0.91 percent to 15,002.83 points. The selection index temporarily slipped to its lowest level in two weeks and moved further away from the record high of early August.
The incidence values are rising again in many regions around the world. “In China, a complete terminal in one of the largest ports in the world was recently closed after a worker tested positive for the virus,” noted economist Carsten Mumm from the Donner & Reuschel bank. Rising incidence levels dampened the economic outlook.
Analyst Simon Deeley from the RBC bank also referred to the rising number of corona infections in the USA as a burden on the mood in the markets. The seven-day incidence there has risen to the highest level since the beginning of February because of the contagious Delta variant. Investors therefore played it safe and bought US government bonds.
This was reflected in the course reactions of those industries that are particularly affected by the pandemic. American Airlines, United Airlines and Delta Air Lines stocks, for example, lost between two and three percent. Boeing shares lost three percent as the second weakest stock in the Dow. The papers of hotel and casino operators as well as cruise lines came under pressure.
The focus was also on the shares of large retail groups according to quarterly figures. In the Dow, the shares of Walmart held up relatively well with an almost unchanged price. After a successful second quarter, the company increased its targets for the full year.
The price reaction at Home Depot was different: the shares fell by 4.3 percent at the end of the Dow. The hardware store chain recorded surprisingly significant increases in sales and profit in the second quarter. However, the growth in sales in the domestic market fell short of expectations. In addition, the management does not trust itself to make a forecast for the financial year. That pushed the shares of the hardware store chain Lowe’s down 5.8 percent.
The euro fell on Tuesday and was last at $ 1.1713. The European Central Bank had previously set the reference rate at 1.1767 (Monday: 1.1772) dollars. It cost 0.8498 (0.8495) euros. On the US bond market, the futures contract for ten-year Treasuries (T-Note-Future) fell by 0.07 percent to 134.23 points. The yield on ten-year government bonds was 1.265 percent.
Jane Stock is a technology author, who has written for 24 Hours World. She writes about the latest in technology news and trends, and is always on the lookout for new and innovative ways to improve his audience’s experience.
