The Technology Sector Boosted Wall Street Growth, European Markets in the Red

On Wall Street, the S&P 500 index rose on Monday, as did the Nasdaq, which reached a new record level, primarily due to the increase in stock prices of several of the largest technology companies.

The Dow Jones weakened by 0.25 percent, to 43,717 points, while the S&P 500 rose by 0.38 percent, to 6,074 points, and the Nasdaq index by 1.24 percent, to 20,173 points.

The Dow Jones slid for the eighth consecutive day yesterday, marking its longest negative streak since mid-2018.

The S&P 500, on the other hand, rose, as did the Nasdaq index, due to a significant increase in stock prices of several of the largest technology companies, such as Alphabet and Tesla.

Investor focus this week will be on the two-day meeting of the U.S. central bank leaders, which begins on Tuesday. On Wednesday, the Fed will announce its decisions, and the market expects a third interest rate cut this year, by an additional 0.25 percentage points.

Meanwhile, European stock prices fell yesterday. The London FTSE index weakened by 0.46 percent, to 8,262 points, while the Frankfurt DAX slid by 0.45 percent, to 20,313 points, and the Paris CAC by 0.71 percent, to 7,357 points.

On European markets, stock prices fell on Tuesday morning for the second consecutive day, as investors await decisions from the leaders of several central banks that could influence market direction.

The STOXX 600 index of leading European stocks was down 0.4 percent at 9:30 AM, marking its second consecutive day of decline.

At the same time, the London FTSE index weakened by 0.77 percent, to 8,198 points, while the Frankfurt DAX slid by 0.23 percent, to 20,268 points, and the Paris CAC by 0.46 percent, to 7,325 points.

Investor focus this week will be on the two-day meeting of the U.S. central bank leaders, which begins on Tuesday.

Asian Markets Rise, Dollar Stagnates

On most Asian markets, stock prices rose on Tuesday, similar to Wall Street the day before, while the value of the dollar against a basket of currencies stagnates ahead of the U.S. central bank meeting.

The MSCI index of Asia-Pacific stocks was up 0.2 percent at 7:00 AM.

On the Tokyo Stock Exchange, the Nikkei index strengthened by 0.1 percent, while stock prices in Shanghai, Hong Kong, and Australia rose between 0.1 and 0.8 percent. In South Korea, however, they fell by more than 1 percent.

Thus, most Asian markets are following yesterday’s direction of Wall Street. Although the Dow Jones weakened by 0.25 percent, the S&P 500 rose by 0.38, and the Nasdaq index by 1.24 percent.

On the currency markets, the value of the dollar against a basket of currencies stagnates.

The dollar index, which shows the value of the U.S. dollar against the other six major world currencies, is around 106.88 points this morning, almost the same as yesterday at this time.

The exchange rate of the dollar against the Japanese currency rose from yesterday’s 153.85 to 154.10 yen.

The U.S. currency also strengthened against the euro, causing the price of the euro to slide to 1.0510 dollars, while it was 1.0515 dollars yesterday at this time.

Oil prices, on the other hand, stagnate. The price of a barrel on the London market rose by 0.05 percent this morning, to 73.95 dollars, while on the U.S. market, a barrel decreased by 0.03 percent, to 70.70 dollars.