global stocks

US stocks ended lower on Thursday, as investors worried that inflation would remain high for longer than expected, which might prompt the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates more aggressively.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 88.75 points, or 0.28 percent, to close at 31,745.36. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index fell 4.21 points, or 0.09 percent, to 3,931.48 points. The Nasdaq Composite Index rose 6.99 points, or 0.12 percent, to 11,371.23.
The Dow Jones fell for the sixth day in a row, as traders once once more failed to find a foothold in an increasingly volatile market.
Earlier today, the market attempted a recovery as traders bought into subdued names. At one point, the Dow rose 80 points at session highs, while the Nasdaq added 1.61%. At session lows, the Dow was down more than 500 points, while the Nasdaq was down 2.25%.
The S&P 500 hit a new low for 2022, closing more than 18% from its 52-week high and approaching bear market territory.
Among the major averages, the Nasdaq is the only one in bear market territory, having fallen nearly 30% from its record high – as technology stocks continue to crash.
Some very short names led the market’s short rally attempt earlier in the day and closed higher. Lucid shares rose 13.2% while GameStop and AMC jumped more than 10% and 8%. Rivian also rose nearly 18% following the announcement of its latest quarterly results.
While it wasn’t clear what was driving Lucid GameStop and AMC’s gains, it might mean a short squeeze, as hedge funds that profited from the massive losses of this year’s pandemic winners were finally closing their short positions by buying back stocks.
Short selling is a tactic where funds sell shares that have been borrowed from investment banks, and in order to close the deal they need to buy back the shares. The short squeeze is a spike caused by this purchase.
Apple lost 2.7%, pushing stocks into bear market territory and down 22% from a 52-week high. Meanwhile, Amazon and Meta shares closed up more than 1%.
Disney shares fell to a two-year low, but trimmed its losses and closed down 0.9 percent, as the media giant reported greater-than-expected growth in the number of live subscribers, but warned of the impact of Covid on the theme park business in Asia.
These moves came as traders pondered the latest inflation data in the US. New PPI data, which measures prices at the wholesale level, rose 11% year over year.
On Wednesday, the US government published the latest reading of its Consumer Price Index, which showed a jump of 8.3% year on year in April. This is higher than economists had expected and close to a 40-year high of 8.5%.
(agencies)

European shares gained for a second straight session on Wednesday, as strong corporate earnings and a rise in sensitive sectors of the economy boosted sentiment following US inflation growth slowed sharply in April.
The pan-European Stoxx 600 index rose 1.7 percent at the close, posting its biggest percentage gain since late March. The mining, auto industry and oil and gas sectors each jumped more than 3 percent.
Investor sentiment was supported by a batch of upbeat earnings reports and merger activity.
Sweden’s Match shares jumped 9 percent following Philip Morris International announced that it would make a cash offer to buy the Swedish tobacco company, amounting to regarding 161.2 billion Swedish crowns (16 billion dollars).
Shares of German thyssenkrupp group jumped 11.2 percent following it raised its forecast for sales and operating profits for 2022, while shares of Britain’s Compass Group rose 7.4 percent with an increase in its annual revenue forecast.
European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde said on Wednesday the bank was likely to end its bond-buying stimulus program as early as the third quarter of this year, followed by an interest rate hike that might come “a few weeks”.
Data showed that US consumer price growth slowed sharply in April as gasoline prices fell from record highs, indicating that inflation is likely to have peaked. But it is likely to remain elevated for a while, keeping the Federal Reserve (the US central bank) on a path of raising interest rates.
Shares in French train maker Alstom lost 5.2 percent following the market was divided over comments regarding cash flows.
Germany’s Bayer shares fell 6.2 percent following the US administration asked the Supreme Court not to consider the agrochemical and pharmaceutical company’s lawsuit to dismiss lawsuits filed by clients who said the company’s weed killer Roundup causes cancer.

Japanese stocks

Japan’s Nikkei index rose at the close on Wednesday, as investors looked to stocks of companies with strong expectations, but gains were limited with US inflation data expected later in the day. The Nikkei rose 0.18 percent to close at 26,213.64 points, following declining earlier in the session.
Investors are awaiting US consumer price index data for April for indications that inflation may start to ease, with expectations that it will register an increase of 8.1 percent on an annual basis, compared to 8.5 percent in March.
The broader Topix index fell 0.60 percent to 1,851.15 points, affected by a 4.43 percent drop in Toyota Motor Co., following expectations of a decline in profits.
During the trading session, Toyota warned that operating profit this year may fall by regarding 20 percent “due to unprecedented increases in materials and logistics costs” once morest the background of a 33 percent drop in fourth-quarter profits.
The auto sector index fell 3.31 percent.
Sony Group shares rose 2.1 percent following the camera and auto equipment maker announced that its fourth-quarter operating profit more than doubled on an annual basis.
Video game maker Nintendo shares rose 3.25 percent.
69 shares rose on the Nikkei index, compared to 153 shares declined.

US stocks

The Standard & Poor’s 500 and Nasdaq indexes on Wall Street closed higher on Tuesday, supported by the rise of major growth companies, following a sell-off in the previous session, with US Treasury yields falling.
Meanwhile, bank shares fell. The benchmark 10-year Treasury yield fell from its highest level in more than three years to less than 3 percent.
Trading was choppy, with major indices moving up and down amid nervousness among investors ahead of the release of US consumer price index data on Wednesday and producer price data on Thursday.
Apple shares rose, giving the biggest boost to the S&P 500 and Nasdaq indices.
According to preliminary data, the Standard & Poor’s 500 closed up 10.77 points, or 0.27 percent, to 4002.01 points, while the Nasdaq Composite Index rose 114.11 points, or 0.98 percent, to end the session at 11737.35 points.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 82.39 points, or 0.26 percent, to close at 32,163.31 points.
(Archyde.com)

Wall Street closed lower, Friday, amid concerns regarding rising Treasury yields and the possibility of the Federal Reserve increasing interest rates.
The strong rise in employment has raised concerns regarding a larger rate hike this year.
And the US Labor Department issued data that came stronger than expected for jobs, as jobs in the non-farm sectors rose by 428,000 jobs in April, once morest expectations of adding 391,000 jobs, confirming the strength of fundamental factors for the economy despite the contraction in gross domestic product in the first quarter of general.
The Standard & Poor’s 500 index closed down 23.14 points, or 0.55 percent, to 4,124.09 points, the Nasdaq Composite Index fell 173.94 points, or 1.41 percent, to 12,143.75 points, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 86.16 points, or 0.26 percent, to 32911.81 points.
American companies continued to hire in large numbers in April, according to figures released by the Labor Department on Friday, while President Joe Biden praised the solidity of the labor market, which he considered a fruit of his economic policy.
Despite rising costs due to chronic labor shortages and record inflation, companies have secured 428,000 new jobs, especially in the services, manufacturing and transportation sectors that have been hardest hit by the Covid pandemic.
The outcome exceeded analysts’ expectations, creating 395,000 new jobs.
In two years, the US economy recreated regarding 95 percent of the 22 million jobs that were lost when the Covid pandemic crippled economic activity and plunged the United States into a deep recession starting in the spring of 2020.
“Our policy actions have resulted in the creation of the highest number of jobs in modern times,” President Joe Biden said in a statement, adding that “the drop in the unemployment rate (is) the fastest ever at the start of a presidential term.”
The unemployment rate remained at 3.6 percent, touching the rate recorded in February 2020, before the outbreak of the epidemic, and at that time it settled at 3.5 percent, its lowest level since 1969.
The Ministry of Labor said in a statement that the number of unemployed people in April remained “unchanged fundamentally at 5.9 million” people.
The US administration hopes to create more than 4 million job opportunities this year, and the unemployment rate will drop to 3.3 percent by the end of the year.
According to a Labor Department survey published this week, there were more than 11 million jobs available in the country in March, a record number. (Archyde.com)

Wall Street closed significantly higher on Thursday following a positive earnings report from Meta Platforms lifted previously battered technology and growth-related shares and countered by concerns regarding the US economy’s first-quarter contraction.
Shares of the company that owns Facebook jumped 17.6% following the social network reported higher-than-expected profits and recovered from a decline in the number of users.
Apple and Amazon shares also rose more than 4 percent.
The Standard & Poor’s 500 index closed up 2.47 percent, to end the session at 4,287.50 points.
The Nasdaq index rose 3.06% to 12,871.53 points, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1.85% to 33,916.39 points.

Europe shares

European shares rose from their lowest level in six weeks reached in the previous session, as concerns regarding slowing global economic growth eased following the announcement of better-than-expected results for companies, including energy major Total Energies and Volvo Cars, the car maker.
The European Stoxx 600 index closed up 0.6 percent, but it was below its highest levels during the session, as it was affected by data on the growth of the American economy that indicated a contraction in the first quarter of the year, in addition to German inflation, which came higher than expected, which stimulated bets on a faster pace of policy tightening. cash from the European Central Bank.
April was a volatile month for stock markets globally, with the Stoxx 600 dropping to its lowest level in more than a month at one point due to concerns regarding interest rate hikes, valuations of US technology companies, the conflict in Ukraine and coronavirus-related lockdowns in China.
But the index rose during the day, supported by strong business results, as France’s Total Energies rose 3.7% following announcing plans to buy back its shares following core profits rose significantly with the rise in oil and gas prices.
Auto stocks advanced 2.2 percent. Volvo Cars shares jumped 8 percent following its profits exceeded analysts’ expectations, as demand for its products remained strong.
Standard Chartered shares jumped 14.2 percent following it announced positive quarterly results.
Technology shares received a boost from better-than-expected results from Meta Platforms, along with a 17.5 percent increase announced by software specialist Temenos following a report on a possible takeover bid.
Healthcare shares took a hit, with Sanofi falling 0.9 percent, even though its quarterly profit beat estimates.

Japanese stocks

Japanese stocks rose on Thursday following the Bank of Japan reiterated its commitment to ultra-loose monetary policy and investors were relieved that there were no surprises negatively affecting the stock market.

The Nikkei index rose 1.75 percent at the close, recording 26,847.90 points, the largest daily increase since April 13, following falling earlier in the session. The broader Topix index jumped 2.09%, the highest increase since March 23, to record 1,899.62 points.

Toyota Motor shares rose 3.23 percent, and it was one of the largest stocks that supported the Topix index, with the yen falling to its lowest level in 20 years once morest the dollar. Shares of Advantest, which makes chip-making equipment, jumped 4.29 percent and was the biggest supporter of the Nikkei index.

The 1.34 percent drop in shares of Fast Retailing, operator of clothing stores Uniqlo, was the biggest pressure on the Nikkei. (Archyde.com)