The unusual wave of protests in China is also making itself felt on Wall Street. In addition, experts are forecasting further jumps in interest rates, so that the indices drop points at the beginning of the week. Amazon can save itself after the Black Friday high in the plus.
The protests in China and hawkish statements by US central bankers spoiled the start of the week on Wall Street. On the one hand, the question of how Beijing would react to the protests against the zero-Covid policy caused uncertainty, on the other hand, they made investors aware of the negative consequences of the lockdowns for the country's economy and thus also for the global economy.
Meanwhile, US Federal Reserve Banker James Bullard told MarketWatch that he supports more aggressive rate hikes to curb inflation and that interest rates will likely need to remain elevated throughout 2023 and into 2024. And his colleague John Williams noted that interest rates still need to be raised and tightening policies must be maintained "for some time".
The Dow Jones index lost 1.4 percent to 33,850 points, the S
Yields rose slightly on the bond market. While the hawkish statements from Fed circles spoke for rising yields, in view of the situation in China interest rate securities were sought after in their function as a safe haven, which slowed the rise in yields.
The fact that oil prices initially continued their recent phase of weakness and fell to their lowest level since January, and that prices for industrial raw materials also weakened, was seen by market participants in connection with a presumably weaker demand for energy. Chinese oil demand is estimated to have fallen by 900,000 barrels a day as a result of the recent lockdowns, a market participant said. In the end, however, the trend was mixed after a recovery from the daily lows. Brent oil became slightly cheaper, US oil of the WTI variety rose by half a percent.
Retail stocks took center stage in the stock market after online sales soared to a record $9.12 billion on Black Friday this year in the US. Amazon was able to salvage a 0.6% gain against the weak market, while shares in more local businesses like Walmart (up 0.3%) and Macy's (-2.2%) benefited less.
Apple fell 2.6 percent. The stock was weighed down by a report that the company could face a lost production of 6 million iPhones this year after violent clashes erupted at Apple's Zhengzhou manufacturing plant amid protests against the zero-Covid policy .
Univar increased in price by a good 4 percent. Here, the imagination was fueled by the fact that the German chemicals trader Brenntag was in talks with the company regarding a possible takeover. It is still unclear whether this will actually happen.
The dollar experienced a pronounced roller coaster ride. In the meantime, it slipped to a five-month low of just under 1.05 against the euro before more than making up for the fall to 1.0334 most recently. Traders said the euro was initially supported by the recent recovery in European stock markets and a fall in energy prices, which is generally favorable for currencies from energy-importing regions. The dollar's recovery during the course of trade was then attributed to the dollar's reputation as a safe haven due to the protests in China.
