Russian gas freeze to Europe drags Dow lower

Created: 2022-09-02 23:26

Gazprom's news also affects the Dow Jones.

© Sebastian Gollnow/dpa

The stable labor market data actually gave stockbrokers hope, but then the message from a Russian company sent the Dow Jones down.

New York – The renewed escalation of the gas crisis in Europe pushed the US stock exchanges significantly into the red on Friday.

Initial gains in the wake of robust labor market data fizzled out.

Contrary to what was announced, no gas will flow through the Baltic Sea pipeline Nord Stream 1 from this Saturday, according to the state-owned company Gazprom.

The reason is an oil leak in the Portovaya compressor station.

According to Gazprom, the flow of gas will now be stopped until it is cleared.

It had previously been expected that gas would flow through the line again from Saturday after the announced three-day maintenance work was completed.

The news brings Europe one step closer to blackouts, gas rationing and a deep recession.

A significant economic downturn in the region would also hit the important trading partner USA hard.

The leading US index Dow Jones Industrial lost interim gains of more than 1 percent and ended up falling 1.07 percent to 31,318.44 points.

In the course of the week, the best-known Wall Street index recorded a loss of 2.99 percent.

The market-wide S&P 500 fell 1.07 percent to 3924.26 points on Friday.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 fell 1.44 percent to 12,098.44 points.

Breathe a sigh of relief thanks to job data

Job data provided some relief in early trading.

Unemployment rose surprisingly in August, albeit from a low level.

Wage growth has slowed somewhat, but remains strong on a longer-term basis.

In addition, the rate of employment growth slowed compared to July, when an exceptionally large number of new jobs were created.

Overall, according to observers, the pressure on the US central bank to raise interest rates sharply in the fight against inflation has at least not increased any further.

"The US labor market is still running at full speed in the second half of the year," wrote Thomas Gitzel, Chief Economist at VP Bank.

The increase in jobs can no longer match the target of the previous month, but in view of the full employment achieved and the almost empty job market, according to the expert, this is not surprising.

In the again significantly clouded environment, only three stocks in the Dow were able to assert themselves in the profit zone.

At the end of the index, shares in the 3M conglomerate lost 3.2 percent.

At the top of the Nasdaq 100, shares of Lululemon soared 6.7 percent after the Canadian sportswear maker released its quarterly earnings report and raised full-year targets.

Demand from high-income consumers has remained high, a trader said.

Credit Suisse analyst Michael Binetti wrote: "The bottom line is that the company has demonstrated outstanding strength in a significantly weakening retail environment."

According to figures presented, Broadcom's shares gained 1.7 percent in the third quarter.

The chip group has presented strong results, judged the expert Stacy Rasgon from the analysis house Bernstein Research.

Semiconductor sales exceeded expectations.

Overall, the demand outlook has also remained robust and Rasgon also called the targets for the fourth quarter "strong".

The euro suffered from the Russian gas freeze and was last listed at 0.9954 US dollars.

The European Central Bank had previously set the reference rate at $0.9993 (Thursday: $1.0004).

The dollar thus cost 1.0007 (0.9996) euros.

On the other hand, US government bonds, which are considered safe, benefited from the price losses on the stock market.

The futures contract for ten-year Treasuries (T-Note Future) rose by 0.53 percent to 116.59 points.

In contrast, the yield on ten-year government bonds fell to 3.20 percent.

dpa