Global markets had a mixed picture last week.
While new records were being set on Wall Street, European stock markets fell.
The Dow Jones index rose 0.2 percent in the week, to 49,609 points, while the S&P 500 jumped 2.3 percent, to 7,398 points, and the Nasdaq rose 4.5 percent, to 26,247 points.
New record highs for the S&P 500 and Nasdaq were largely driven by gains in technology stocks as euphoria about the development of artificial intelligence reignited.
At the same time, shares of chip manufacturers, such as AMD and Intel, rose the most, after AMD’s better-than-expected quarterly business results.
Thanks to this, last week the PHLX index of the chip maker sector rose strongly and reached record levels.
After a sharp drop at the beginning of March due to the attack of the USA and Israel on Iran, in the last six weeks, the world’s largest stock market has been recovering, so share prices have compensated for all losses, reports SEEbiz.
Thanks to that, now the S&P 500 index is in the plus since the beginning of the year by about 8 percent, and the Nasdaq is about 13 percent.
Excellent quarterly results
This is thanks, among other things, to the better than expected quarterly business results of the companies.
So far, about 440 companies from the S&P 500 index have reported results, of which 83 percent reported better-than-expected earnings.
Therefore, it is now estimated that the earnings of the companies in the first quarter have increased by an average of about 29 percent compared to the same period last year, while a month ago a growth of about 14 percent was expected.
The market was also positively influenced by macroeconomic data, which showed that the American economy is growing steadily. But inflation is also rising, so it is unlikely that the US central bank will cut interest rates this year.
Most European stock markets fell
While Wall Street rose strongly, most European stock indexes fell last week. Although, the Frankfurt DAX strengthened by 0.2 percent, to 24,338 points, but the London FTSE weakened by 1.3 percent, to 10,233 points, and the Paris CAC by 0.1 percent, to 8,112 points.
Markets were adversely affected by the uncertain situation in the Middle East. At the beginning of the week, US President Donald Trump said that a peace agreement with Iran could soon be reached, but at the end of the week, US military forces launched attacks on locations in Iran, which Washington said were responsible for attacks on US forces. Iran, on the other hand, accuses the US of violating the ceasefire.
And since the Strait of Hormuz, crucial for the export of oil from the Middle East, is still closed to traffic, oil prices fluctuate significantly from day to day. This supports investors’ fears of rising inflation and an increase in central bank interest rates, which would slow the growth of economies.
