The stock markets in New York bounced slightly on Monday after the loss before the weekend. The continuation of the ceasefire talks between Russia and Ukraine raised some hopes for a diplomatic solution to the war in Ukraine.
Ukrainian leader Volodimir Zelensky also wants to meet with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin. He says his negotiators are “doing everything” to settle that.
In addition to developments around Ukraine, investors are looking forward to the Federal Reserve’s interest rate decision later this week. The US central bank is expected to raise interest rates for the first time in years on Wednesday to curb the soaring inflation.
Shortly after opening, the Dow-Jones index was 0.5 percent higher at 33,111 points. The broad S&P 500 gained 0.3 percent to 4216 points, and tech gauge Nasdaq rose a fraction to 12,852 points. Due to the start of daylight saving time in the United States, the American stock exchanges will open at 2.30 pm Dutch time for the next two weeks. Daylight saving time in the Netherlands starts on Sunday, 27 March.
However, Chinese tech companies listed on Wall Street fell sharply after the sector’s price pressure during Asian stock exchange trading. The threat that several Chinese companies may lose their listing in New York and the lockdown in the Chinese metropolis of Shenzhen, the tech centre of China, previously caused a selloff on the Hong Kong stock exchange. As a result, online shopping groups such as Alibaba and JD.com fell to almost 9 percent.
Apple also lost just under 2 percent. In addition, Taiwanese Foxconn said it was closing its production facility in Shenzhen due to the lockdown. Foxconn is an important supplier to the American tech group Apple and assembles, among other things, the iPhones of that company.
Defence group Lockheed Martin did rise a faction. Germany is reportedly planning to buy 35 F-35 fighter jets from the company. However, because of the war in Ukraine, the country has announced that it will invest much more money in defence.
Oil companies Chevron and Occidental Petroleum also lost more than 6 percent due to falling oil prices. As a result, Morgan Stanley analysts also downgraded the rating for both companies.
