The stock exchanges in New York are closed with losses on Friday. Sentiment on the stock exchange was depressed by the rising tensions around Iran, which entertained two oil tankers in the Persian Gulf. Investors also processed quarterly figures from a number of large companies including Microsoft. President Donald Trump also accused the Federal Reserve of unnecessarily raising interest rates.
The Dow-Jones index ended 0.3 percent lower at 27,154.20 points. The broader compiled S&P 500 index lost 0.6 percent to 2976.61 points. Nasdaq technology level meter dropped 0.7 percent to 8146.49.
Immediately after the news about the interception of the oil tankers, oil prices jumped up. The price of a barrel of American oil rose 1.5 percent to $ 56.12. Brent oil cost 2 percent more at $ 63.19 a barrel.
Microsoft eventually rose 0.2 percent after a sharp rise in the meantime. The software company boosted sales and made more than half the profit. The largest company in the world, measured by market value, mainly benefited from the sharp increase in revenues from cloud services.
American Express also gave a glimpse into the books and dropped 2.8 percent. The credit card provider benefited from the fact that customers spent more with their American Express card and also borrowed more from the company. Turnover and profit increased as a result.
Boeing increased 4.5 percent after the aircraft manufacturer announced it had set aside $ 4.9 billion due to the crisis surrounding the 737 MAX aircraft. Investors were relieved that the airline compensation bill did not turn out higher. PepsiCo announced that it would take over South African food producer Pioneer Foods for $ 1.7 billion and fell over 2 percent.
Trump responded to a speech by the chief of New York Central Bank, John Williams. He spoke of quick monetary intervention in times of economic weakness. Investors responded quickly by investing in an early interest rate cut. The Fed later scaled back by saying that Williams’ words were academic and not about current policy.
The euro was worth $ 1.1218, compared to $ 1,1222 earlier in the day when the European markets were closed.
Lesley Woutersen, one of the co-founders of the EconomicInform gives away all of his free time to the project. He is interested in stock exchange and digital assets. Lesley can be reached by lesley.woutersen@economicinform.com.
