U.S. stock indices closed the trading session mixed on Friday, March 25, but showed the best two-week stretch since late 2020. While the Dow Jones added 0.3% today, the S&P 500 broad market index was up 0.44%. The Nasdaq was lighter by 0.16%, with the tech benchmark up about 10% in two weeks.
Russian President Vladimir Putin. Photo: Kommersant
It is worth recognizing that the emerging trend of higher interest rates is still weighing on the market. Economists at Citigroup, Bank of America and other financial institutions raise the possibility that the central bank will raise rates by half a percent (50 bps) at the U.S. Federal Reserve meeting in May, the WSJ said. And the growth of the last two weeks gives the understanding that investors are accepting the rate hike and “empowering” the central bank to act more aggressively.
Shares of Apple (AAPL), the world’s largest corporation by market capitalization, rose +0.37% for the ninth day in a row and its value returned to $2.8 trillion. Oil and gas stocks continued buying amid an upward trend in the oil market: ExxonMobil (XOM) and Chevron (CVX) gained 2.18% and 1.81%, respectively. Occidental Petroleum (OXY) +1.88% is trading on the threshold of strong resistance at $60.
Fierce battles continue on the European energy market, the reason for which was the blocking of the Nord Stream 2 gas project, which is fully ready for operation, and the gold and foreign currency reserves of the Russian Federation in response to which Vladimir Putin announced the sale of gas from Russia only for rubles. The president “formalized” an order to this effect on March 23.
The reactions of EU members to Russia’s actions are mixed. Poland, France and Austria, through their officials, stated that such innovations in contractual relations were inadmissible. Though, at the same time, some countries ghostly, but still give their consent to new forms of payments.
Despite the clash of mutual interests of the major gas market players, the blue fuel prices in Europe decreased both on the day (-10.46%) and on the week-end. Over the weekend, 1000 cubic meters of natural gas went down with a price of $1117.
The Russian stock market is out of the vacation. Read more about events on the Moscow Exchange in the article: “IMOEX Index. Trading results and short-term outlook for stocks”.
