A collective rise in stock indices despite US retail sales exceeding expectations
US stocks ignored the strong retail sales numbers, which support the continued tightening of monetary policies and raising interest rates. The three main US stock indices rose, along with the European stock index, while all markets remained awaiting the next move from the Federal Reserve.
During trading on Wednesday, the Nasdaq index rose for the third day in a row, and the rate of increase today was 0.92%, supported by the rise in the share of AIRBNB, which exceeded 13%, after exceeding profitability expectations, in addition to strong rises in the shares of electric car companies, such as Tesla and Rivian. Lucid.
Also, the S&P 500 index rose by almost a quarter of a percentage point, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average only increased by 0.11%, during the same day’s trading.
US stocks fell in the beginning of today’s trading, when a recent report showed that retail sales for January rose by 3%, while economists expected a rise of 1.9%, in reference to the US economy’s steadfastness in the face of recession expectations, despite the successive rise in US interest rates. , during the last year.
The Federal Reserve raised the federal interest rates in eight consecutive meetings, starting last March, by a total of 450 basis points, reaching the range of 4.5% – 4.75%, after it was close to zero.
European stocks also rose, during trading on Wednesday, benefiting from the US recording, on Tuesday, the lowest annual inflation rate in 15 months, as the STOXX 600 index reversed losses in the first minutes of trading, to end the day up by 0.53%, with most of its sectors gaining.
On the same path followed the British FTSE 100 index, hitting a new record, after breaching the 8000 point for the first time in its history, ending the session up by 0.55% during the day.
In a related context, oil prices declined slightly on Wednesday, not exceeding 20 cents in Brent crude, to record 85.38 dollars a barrel, while the declines in US West Texas crude were 47 cents, bringing it to a price of 78.59 dollars a barrel, with the absence of major influences on the markets. today.