Stock markets in New York started the new trading day with small losses on Thursday. Russia tempered expectations around ceasefire negotiations with Ukraine.
The day before, Wall Street won sharply on relief over the Federal Reserve’s interest rate decision and optimism about peace talks with Ukrainian President Volodimir Zelensky. However, a Kremlin spokesman contradicted earlier progress reports in negotiations with Ukraine. Talks between the two countries will continue on Thursday.
The White House also announced that US President Joe Biden and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping would speak by phone on Friday about the war. So far, China has been neutral, offering the Russians an opportunity to strengthen economic ties with the Asian superpower to ease the pain of Western sanctions.
The Dow-Jones index was 0.3 percent lower in the first minutes at 33,954 points. The broad S&P 500 also fell 0.3 percent to 4344 points, and tech Nasdaq fell 0.5 percent to 13,366 points.
Investors were also still chewing on the Federal Reserve’s interest rate decision. It announced that it would raise interest rates by 0.25 percentage points. More interest rate steps will follow later to contain high inflation, said chairman Jerome Powell.
Oil prices rose again after days of decline, benefiting oil companies ExxonMobil, ConocoPhillips, and Chevron with up to 4.2 percent gains. Occidental (plus 7.9 percent) received additional support as super investor Warren Buffett’s investment company Berkshire Hathaway increased its stake in the company. As a result, a barrel of American oil became 7.3 percent more expensive at USD 101.97 per barrel. Brent oil rose 7.6 percent in price to $ 105.49 a barrel.
IT consultant Accenture did well with its quarterly results and rose 2.1 percent. The Irish company, which is listed in New York, saw its turnover increase by more than a quarter compared to a year earlier. The outlook for the current second quarter was also better than analysts had generally expected.
Tesla added 0.3 percent. The electric car manufacturer said it is doing everything it can to keep production going at its factory in Shanghai amid tightened corona measures.
