Nasdaq soaring
Wall Street takes a positive view of rate hikes
06/15/2022, 11:02 p.m
The Fed’s rate hike is the dominant topic on Wall Street on Wednesday. After the latest inflation data, traders had expected a significant jump – and are therefore not very surprised. After days of heavy losses, the Dow, but especially the Nasdaq, are on the up.
The largest US interest rate hike since 1994 was positively received by US investors on Wednesday. Of the Dow Jones gained one percent to 30,669 points. The tech-heavy one Nasdaq advanced 2.5 percent to 11,099 points and the broad S&P 500 increased 1.5 percent to almost 3790 points.
The 0.75 percentage point increase in the key interest rate by the US Federal Reserve is at the upper end, but still in line with expectations, said portfolio manager Thomas Altmann from investment advisor QC Partners. The same applies to the Fed’s interest rate forecasts, the so-called dot plots. “The dots also have a positive aspect to offer: despite the inflation shock, long-term interest rate expectations remain constant.”
The US currency, on the other hand, only received momentary momentum from the Fed’s decision. Of the Dollar-Index fell nearly 0.5 percent to 104.82 points in the evening (CEST) after climbing to a 19-1/2-year high in immediate response to the rate hike.
Cryptocurrencies keep slipping
In the case of cryptocurrencies, on the other hand, the descent continued. Bitcoin At times it fell nearly 9 percent and stayed just above the psychologically important $20,000 mark. Ethereum slipped by as much as 15 percent and at $1012.68 was as cheap as it was a year and a half ago. Analyst Jochen Stanzl of online broker CMC Markets said he thinks it’s possible that troubled crypto lender Celsius will have to sell cybercurrency on a massive scale to make collateral payments. “The situation does not seem to be calming down.”
Meanwhile, a gloomy outlook from the International Energy Agency (IEA) put a temporary end to the oil price rally. Because of rising interest rates, the appreciation of the dollar and a possible slowdown in the economy, the authorities are warning of a drop in demand. The US crude oil variety WTI then fell by 2.5 percent to $ 115.91 per barrel (159 liters). However, the supply is still tight, said analyst Jeffrey Halley from brokerage house Oanda to consider. “I don’t see any change here unless the global economy goes into recession.”
One of the winners on Wall Street was Hertz. The car rental company’s shares rose five percent. The company announced a new $2 billion share buyback program.
The papers were also in demand Vimeo, which rose by 7.1 percent. The streaming platform, known for music videos, reportedly increased sales by 16 percent in May and average revenue per user by eleven percent.
Hopes that the 737 MAX model would be relicensed for flight operations in China were buoyed Boeing. The aircraft manufacturer’s shares gained 9.4 percent. The speculation was fueled by a test flight by China Southern. It was the first since the airline’s older 737 crashed in March.