Downward opening of indicators on Wall Street in the final stretch of the week. The DOW JONES fell 0.63% at the beginning of the session to 45,686 points, while the S&P 500 fell 0.42% to 6,446 points. The Nasdaq OMX fell 0.57% to 21,284 points.
Wall Street comes from another negative day yesterday Thursday: the DOW JONES closed with a fall of 469 points, or 1.01%, due to the 1.74% that the S&P 500 lost and the harsh punishment of 2.38% that the Nasdaq. And the big technology stocks suffered yesterday from investor sales, led by Meta Platforms that fell almost 8%, penalized by the legal problems that the company is going through, related to its social networks and the addiction they generate.
The major New York indices are headed for a mixed week. At Thursday’s close, the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite were down 0.5% and 1.1%, respectively. Both indices are heading for their fifth consecutive week of losses. However, The Dow Jones was still positive in the weekly accumulatedwith an increase of 0.8%.
All attention remains on Middle Eastas the Iran war is about to enter its fifth week. Investors continue to calibrate the latest announcement by the US president, Donald Trumpthat will prolong the pause in attacks on Iran’s energy facilities until April 6. The deadline is thus extended by just over a week compared to the original deadline, which expired this Friday.
“At the request of the Iranian Government, this statement serves to indicate that I am suspending the period of destruction of energy plants,” Trump said in a Truth Social publication. «Negotiations are ongoing and, despite misstatements to the contrary from the ‘Fake News media’ and others, are going very well. Thank you for your interest in this matter!»
The announcement is the latest sign that the Trump administration is seeking to end a conflict that has caused a sharp rise in oil prices. With the midterm elections around the corner, Republicans could be hurt by the anger of voters who are already being affected by the rise in gasoline prices.
However, uncertainty remains for investors as the ayatollah regime continues to deny that it will talk to the US. In fact, today oil prices are rising again, with US West Texas futures gaining 2.84% to $97.15 per barrel. The international benchmark Brent crude oil advances 2.43% to $104.37.
Meanwhile, Gold rose 1.18% to $4,460 per ounce in its spot variety. Since the war began almost a month ago, the yellow metal has fallen about 15%, moving largely in unison with stocks and in inverse relation to oil.
The exchange rate between the euro and the dollar today moves at 1.1527 dollars for each community currency, almost at opening levels.
One of the market’s great fears is that the rise in energy will end up leading to a stagflation situation in the US economy -that is, less growth and more inflation- at a time when the succession of the presidency of the institution is also being clouded.
The confirmation of Kevin Warsh, who should take office in May, is up in the air after Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., declared he would not vote for any Fed nominee until the criminal investigation into Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell is resolved. And now Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren (Massachusetts) has sent a letter to Warsh harshly criticizing him for his career.
“As Fed Chair, you will be responsible for directing policies that will transform the economy and have serious consequences for American workers and communities,” Warren wrote in a letter obtained by CNBC ahead of publication. “However, its record before, during and after the 2008 financial crisis raises serious questions about its ability to do so.”
Main values of Wall Street
On a business level, Unity Software shares soar almost 17% after the video game engine company advanced an adjusted EBITDA for the first quarter of between 130 and 135 million dollarshigher than the previous forecast of between 105 and 110 million dollars.
Newsmax increases an amount 18.7% after putting it on the table Higher-than-expected fourth-quarter revenue and full-year sales forecast. The news network’s quarterly revenue hit $52.2 million, beating the consensus estimate of $44 million. The company forecast revenue of $212 million to $216 million for the year ending in December, above the estimate of $206.1 million.
The shares of the construction company Argan also advance in a similar way, 18.2% after presenting fourth quarter profits and revenues above expectations. Argan posted earnings of $3.47 per share on revenue of $262.1 million. Analysts surveyed by FactSet forecast earnings per share of $1.98 on revenue of $255.3 million.
Out of the results, Netflix increases the prices of all its plans in the US. The streaming giant’s ad-supported plan will now cost $8.99 per month, up from $7.99 previously, while the price of its standard plan increases by $2 per month, to $19.99. The premium plan now costs $26.99 per month, down from $24.99 previously. Lastly, Netflix also increases the price to add an additional member to $7.99 for ad-supported plans and $9.99 for ad-free plans. Its shares rise at the opening above 1%