Stock trading on Wall Street opened lower, the situation in the Middle East weighs

In New York, the stock market has opened on Monday with mostly falling rates..

The broad S&P 500 index was down 0.35 percent and the techno-focused Nasdaq was down 0.5 percent. The Dow Jones had risen 0.2 percent.

Investors follow at least two things. Friday’s strong employment report affects expectations about the central bank’s interest rate policy, and government bond interest rates have been clearly on the rise. The dollar has also strengthened. On the other hand, a strong economic outlook is good news for many companies.

Investors are also worried about the situation in the Middle East. The market is expecting Israel’s response to the attack by Iran. This is why the price of oil went up by more than two percent today, and during the week the increase has been around 11 percent. In the course of the afternoon, the highest spike has eased and both the price of Brent was up 1.4 percent at $79.16 per barrel and the price of wti oil was up 1.6 percent at $75.54 per barrel.

The rise in oil prices has boosted energy stocks in the United States. For example Chevronin’s share price was up 1.1 percent.

“Concerns about the escalation of the situation in the Middle East and possible spikes in the price of oil have weighed on shares”, Investment Director of Tigress Financial Partners Ivan Feinseth reviews Bloomberg.

Concerns have outweighed optimism about the better-than-expected state of the US economy.

Apple’s the share price was down 0.8 percent, after Jefferies downgraded the investment recommendation to hold, from previous buy.

Pharmaceutical company Pfizerin the share price was up 4.0 percent. According to a Bloomberg news, activist investor Starboard Value has bought a slice of the company.

Online shopping giant Amazon’s the share price was down 3.0 percent. Wells Fargo downgraded the company’s stock to a hold recommendation, while the previous recommendation was plus.

Source: www.arvopaperi.fi