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Traders on the US stock exchange:
Statements by the US Federal Reserve cause the Dow and Nasdaq to fall
Photo: Wang Ying / dpa
Investors are fleeing the US stock markets for fear of more drastic interest rate hikes by the Fed and the consequences for the economy.
The
Dow Jones
standard value index fell 3.5 percent on Wednesday to 31,490 points.
The tech
-heavy Nasdaq Composite
was down almost 5 percent by the close in the US on Wednesday, while the broader Nasdaq 100 index fell 5.4 percent and fell well below the 12,000 mark.
It is the lowest level on the Nasdaq in more than a year.
The leading index Dax
had previously
ended Xetra trading in Germany with a loss of 1.3 percent.
The Dax is likely to fall again significantly on Thursday.
"Markets don't like uncertainty," said Brooke May, partner at wealth management firm Evans May. "It's unclear how far the Fed will have to go to get inflation under control. Higher interest rates are hurting consumer spending as well as corporate earnings. "
Fed Chair
Jerome Powell
had earlier reiterated his commitment to fighting inflation and had not ruled out more aggressive rate hikes.
The dollar index, which tracks rates against major currencies, then returned to its most recent 19-1/2-year high, up 0.3 percent to 103.64 points.
Some stockbrokers feared that tightening monetary policy too quickly would plunge the economy into a recession.
Therefore, they parted ways in anticipation of falling demand for commodities.
The price of the industrial metal copper fell by 1.7 percent to $9,206 per ton.
US wheat futures fell 3.7 percent to $12.295 a bushel.
Among the companies,
Target stood
out with a price drop of a good 26 percent at times.
This is the biggest loss in more than 34 years.
The retailer increased quarterly sales to $25.17 billion.
Due to rising costs, however, profits fell by half to $2.19 per share.
Investors were also disappointed with
Lowe's
business figures.
Due to low demand for grills and garden equipment, sales at the hardware store chain fell by a surprisingly strong three percent to $23.66 billion.
Tesla
was hit by being kicked out of an index
.
The papers of the electric car manufacturer also fell 6 percent.
The index provider S&P Dow Jones Indices has reportedly removed the company from the S&P 500 ESG index.
The reason for this is Tesla's handling of investigations into accidents in connection with the autopilot function of the vehicles and allegations of racism.
ESG indices only include companies that meet certain criteria for environmental protection (Environmental), social commitment (Social) and responsible corporate management (Governance).
Pressure on the German stock market
Significantly falling US stock markets affected the German stock market on Wednesday.
Gloomy news from the US retail sector and negatively interpreted economic data from the United States slowed the upswing after the strong previous day.
The Dax, which was still up at midday, even briefly fell below the much-noticed 14,000 point mark in the closing trades and ultimately lost 1.3 percent to 14,007.8 points.
The MDax for medium-sized companies fell by 0.9 percent to 29,101.5 points.
"It is not yet time to buy the market as a whole, and so the current recovery phase can actually quickly prove to be a flash in the pan," commented expert Andreas Lipkow.
"The Dax is in a very important stock exchange phase in which sparkling wine or seltzer is the issue for market participants in the coming trading days."
Siemens Energy wants to take over Siemens Gamesa completely
The fact that
Siemens Energy
confirmed considerations about a complete takeover of the Spanish wind power
subsidiary Siemens Gamesa
caused the shares of the energy technology group to rise by 4.3 percent.
They took the top spot in the MDax.
The Siemens Gamesa shares on the stock exchange in Madrid were temporarily suspended from trading after an 11 percent jump in price.
Other stocks from the renewable energy sector also benefited from the news: the shares of Siemens Gamesa competitor
Nordex
gained 3.8 percent as the leader in the SDax small-cap index and those of the wind farm operator
Encavis
1.8 percent.
The Dax leader
RWE
recently recorded a price increase of almost 2.5 percent.
This was enough for the energy company for the highest price level since 2011.
At
Commerzbank
, the takeover issue also provided some momentum.
The shares gained almost 1.5 percent after the "Financial Times" reported that the Italian Unicredit was considering buying the competitor and merging with the German subsidiary Hypo Vereinsbank before the outbreak of the Ukraine war.
According to one broker, the topic has been postponed, but not yet off the table: "The fusion fantasy is back."
Bitcoin is hovering around the $30,000 mark
The world's best-known digital currency Bitcoin is not moving after its price slide.
The cyber currency was last listed on the Bitstamp trading platform at 30,000 US dollars.
Bitcoin fell to $26,283 last week.
Bitcoin hit a record high of $69,000 in November last year.
Since then, the rating has more than halved.
Oil prices slightly higher
Oil prices rose moderately on Wednesday.
Most recently, a barrel (159 liters) of North Sea Brent cost 112.70 US dollars.
That was 77 cents more than the day before.
The price of a barrel of the US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) variety rose by $1.27 to $113.67.
The prospect of a somewhat relaxed corona policy in China continues to provide a boost on the oil market.
After weeks of drastic curfews in the economic metropolis of Shanghai, no new virus infections have been reported there for the fourth day in a row.
China's strict corona course is weighing heavily on the world's second largest economy and dampening its energy demand.
Prices were also boosted by new inventory data from the USA.
The American Petroleum Institute (API) reported a significant decline in national oil stocks the night before.
On Wednesday afternoon, the US government will release its weekly inventory figures.
With news agencies
