Wall Street Opens Higher on US Retail Sales Figures

Stock markets in New York opened with profit on Friday on the last trading day of the week, which opened the quarterly earnings season on Wall Street. Investors’ attention is mainly focused on US retail sales figures. They went up unexpectedly last month, after falling a month earlier.

 

Retail sales in the United States rose 0.6 percent in June compared to May, when they contracted an adjusted 1.7 percent. Economists had forecast a 0.3 percent decline on average. Consumer spending makes up the most significant part of the US economy and is therefore important for the economic recovery from the corona crisis.

Shortly after the start, the Dow-Jones index recorded a plus of 0.2 percent at 35,047 points. The broad S&P 500 rose 0.3 percent to 4,734 points, and Nasdaq’s technology gauge gained 0.6 percent to 14,619 points.

Pharmaceutical Moderna advanced 6.6 percent. The company will be listed in the S&P 500 from July 21, replacing its peer Alexion Pharmaceuticals, which AstraZeneca is acquiring for $39 billion.

Intel posted a price gain of 0.9 percent. The chip group would like to acquire sector partner GlobalFoundries for $ 30 billion to strengthen its position in the global chip industry.

Boeing fell 0.1 percent. More than 2,500 Boeing 737s in the US have to be serviced. Aviation authority FAA reports that there may be a defect in a pressure switch of the device. The FAA has no jurisdiction over other countries, but, likely, the 737s are also controlled in the rest of the world.

The New York-listed Chinese taxi app Didi Global lost 3.4 percent. Inspectors from several Chinese government departments are investigating cybersecurity at Didi. It was previously announced that Didi was removed from Chinese app stores because the company illegally collected data from users.

Cruise lines Carnival, Royal Caribbean and Norwegian Cruise Line climbed to 1.8 percent. Canada will again allow large cruise ships in ports from November.