US inflation rose, while share prices fell on Wall Street. At 3.7% in September, up from 3.6% in August and marginally above forecasts, it has already turned attention to the Fed’s next move. Traders’ stance will depend on the answer to one question: will Kevin Warsh raise interest rates or not?
Sellers or buyers? Another mini sell-off in technology stocks or an upward correction? Until Fed policymakers meet on 27-28 October, there is ample time for another bout of heightened volatility, with plenty of developments along the way.
As usual, there are two sides to the story: BlackRock reported strong quarterly results, with a figure of $1.86bn against $1.32bn a year earlier, as did UnitedHealth; Merck also posted a significant gain, while Nvidia, Caterpillar suffered steep losses. For the Nasdaq, traders’ focus today and tomorrow is on results from TSMC, the AI chipmaking giant.
The sell-off in technology shares in New York dragged down stocks in the sector across Asian markets.
After modest gains in the main European markets, investors are also watching New York and Frankfurt, ahead of the ECB’s meeting on 28-29 October.
S&P 500 futures were down 0.30% at 7,695, while DAX futures were down 0.38% at 25,361. As the session progresses, investors in Frankfurt and Paris are likely to move in step with their counterparts in New York.
In Athens, yesterday’s session had all the hallmarks of targeted orders in specific stocks — pure stock-picking — according to Thanasis Stavropoulos. The picture was more or less as expected, as the repositioning of portfolios does not appear to be complete, with the General Index ending just above the 2,600-point level.
There was some divergence within the banking sector, a second consecutive session of renewed buying in oil and refining groups, and targeted orders in large-cap stocks.
The banking index closed at 3,029.62 (-0.36%), with National Bank at 16.38 (+0.49%) outperforming Piraeus (9.67), Alpha Bank (4.265) and Eurobank (4.455). Inflows into Motor Oil (69.80) and HelleniQ Energy (19.50) continued, in line with the sector’s pan-European trend, driven by high oil prices and persistently elevated refining margins at both groups.
The buying streak in Allwyn continued, with a further 2.19% rise to €12.35, while Jumbo shares gained 4.52% to €26.36 following an extraordinary distribution of profits.
Shares in AKTOR fell 2.06% to 9.50, Credia Bank dropped 1.06% to 0.93 and Cenergy Holdings lost 3.04% to 22.98, all amid increased trading.
HelleniQ Energy, EYDAP reached new highs as buyers continued to make selective moves.
George Findikakis reports on the new mega-battery project and the energy-cost challenge. Evangelos Mytilineos and Antonis Karatzis inaugurated the new 330 MW unit in Larissa yesterday, with Aluminium of Greece the first beneficiary.
Alexandra Gitsi reports on the next — the fifth in succession — “chapter” for Goody’s-Everest. It remains to be seen whether they will fare better this time under the management of Recipe Unlimited, which is owned by Fairfax/Watsa.
Subscriptions for Capital Maritime Finance’s public offering continue and close today. The management of Papoutsanis is also due to announce its results today.