Major US and European equity indexes rose in choppy trade on Wednesday, and the euro dropped to its weakest since 2017 after Russia halted gas supplies to Bulgaria and Poland and investors worried more about the region’s economy.
Wall Street rose, rebounding the day after a rout drove the Nasdaq to its lowest close since December 2020.
The dollar continued its surge, on course for its biggest monthly gain since January 2015 as expectations mounted that the Federal Reserve will hike interest rates aggressively in coming months and the US economy will be stronger than the euro zone.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 113.79 points, or 0.34%, to 33,353.97.
The S&P 500 gained 24.36 points, or 0.58%, to 4,199.56. The Nasdaq Composite added 77.51 points or 0.62%, to 12,568.25 by 11:14 EST.
Strong earnings reports boosted US stocks, with Microsoft jumping over 6% and Visa surging over 8%.
Some of Wall Street’s biggest names have reported results this week, with investors seeking a counterweight to the deluge of negative news that has pounded stocks.
Google-parent Alphabet fell 3.6% as slowing YouTube ad sales pushed quarterly revenue below expectations. Boeing dropped 8.8% after it disclosed $1.5 billion in abnormal costs from halting 777x production.
European shares rose, boosted by commodity stocks, though gains were limited as Russian energy giant Gazprom halted the gas supplies and German consumer morale sank.
The Euro STOXX 600 was up 0.45%, while Germany’s DAX eased 0.04%. Britain’s FTSE 100 climbed 0.58%.
European corporate earnings were mixed. Credit Suisse reported another quarterly loss and Deutsche Bank warned the Russia-Ukraine conflict could hurt annual earnings.
Russia cut the gas flow to Bulgaria and Poland for rejecting its demand to pay in roubles, taking direct aim at European economies. This led investors to sell euros and snap up US dollars.
MSCI’s benchmark for global equity markets rose 0.03% to 655.2. Emerging markets stocks fell 0.6%.
Published in The Express Tribune, April 28th, 2022.
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