New York (AFP) – The New York Stock Exchange closed sharply lower on Thursday on fears of escalation in Ukraine and a slowdown in US corporate growth.
The Dow Jones industrial average dropped 1.78% to 34,312.03 points, the high-tech Nasdaq index fell 2.88% to 13,716.71 points, and the S&P 500 expanded 2.12%. at 4,380.26 points.
“Stocks are under pressure as geopolitical concerns mount,” Schwab analysts said in a note.
US President Joe Biden said Thursday that an attack on Ukraine was possible “in the coming days”.
Russia has announced the continued withdrawal of troops and equipment from regions close to Ukraine, a move that American diplomacy and the Ukrainian president are questioning.
The ambient nervousness was illustrated by a 15% jump in the VIX index, which measures market volatility, as well as by significant movements towards bonds, considered a safe haven.
The rate of 10-year US government bonds, which moves in the opposite direction of bond prices, thus contracted sharply, falling from 2.04% on Wednesday to 1.96%.
The eight largest Nasdaq capitalizations, all technology stocks, ended down more than 2%, Tesla (-5.09%), Alphabet (-3.77%) or Meta (Facebook, -4.08% ) dropping even much more.
“Ukraine and inflation are the two topics that make the headlines every day, but a lot of the volatility is due to the deceleration in the growth of many companies”, which is visible in the results published in recent weeks , argued Robert Cantwell, portfolio manager at Upholdings.
After publishing sparkling results in 2021, thanks to the rebound that had followed the start of the pandemic, American companies are struggling to post similar growth rates in a normalizing economy, the manager said.
“Right now, we are sailing,” commented Adam Sarhan, founder and managing director of 50 Park Investments. “We are in a minefield with business results”, at the mercy of a bad surprise, says the manager. “And the markets do not like uncertainty,” he continues, especially since there is the lack of visibility on the Ukrainian crisis and the trajectory of the American central bank (Fed).
Proponents of a rising market, the bulls, are “desperately looking for a catalyst that could lift stocks, but they can’t find one,” said Adam Sarhan.
Nevertheless, if “there is fear in these short-term movements”, concedes Robert Cantwell, “the basic trend is there”, namely an economy which remains in expansion. “We should see growth rates (of companies) accelerate in the second half, which should calm the nerves” of investors.
On the odds, Walmart pulled out of the game (+4.01% to 138.88 dollars) thanks to quarterly results that exceeded expectations. The distribution giant has managed to gain market share in food in the United States, having chosen to be competitive in its prices despite the current inflationary surge.
The American meal delivery platform DoorDash soared (+ 10.69% to 105.03 dollars) after the publication Wednesday after the stock market, of a turnover higher than expectations. Expected at the turn after being one of the big winners of the pandemic, the group says it anticipates strong growth in orders in 2022.
Hasbro benefited (+2.10% to 99.08 dollars) from the initiative of the investment company Alta Fox, holder of 2.5% of the capital of the toy specialist and which proposed its own candidates for the board of directors. administration as well as an evolution of the company’s strategy.
The telecommunications group Cisco pulled out of the slump in technology stocks (+2.80% to 55.77 dollars), after raising its objectives for its 2022 financial year (closed at the end of July).
© 2022 AFP