Wall Street Defies Inflation Concerns with Moderate Gains

The U.S. stock markets started the new trading week with confidence, building on the success streak from the previous Friday and recording slight gains in the major indices. Despite the delivery of significant inflation data over the course of the week, which is eagerly anticipated by the markets, investors remained optimistic. Leading the optimism was the Dow Jones Industrial, which saw an uptick of 0.18 percent to 39,203.81 points, thereby continuing with its gainful week of 1.3 percent, during which it, along with the broadly diversified S&P 500 and the tech-centric Nasdaq 100, was led to a new record high by a general AI euphoria. This trend was primarily driven by outstanding business reports from the technology company Nvidia. The S&P 500 also moved upward with a slight increase of 0.05 percent to 5,091.57 points. Similarly, the Nasdaq 100 experienced a positive development with a gain of 0.30 percent to 17,990.84 points. In view of the price data in the U.S., which can have a decisive influence on the strategy of the U.S. Federal Reserve, investors are taking a close look. However, hopes for an imminent interest rate cut are already shifting to a later time in the year, due to persistent inflation rates and concurrently stable economic and employment conditions in the United States. The software giant Salesforce delivered an outstanding performance with a price gain of over two percent. Amazon, which is now listed in the Dow, also recorded a plus of 0.4 percent. On the other hand, Walgreens Boots Alliance had to bid farewell to the prestigious index and suffered a share price decline of almost two percent. Less pleasing news came from the aerospace company Intuitive Machines, whose share price plummeted by an impressive 26 percent after the initial successful commercial moon landing on Friday, when it became apparent that the lander had tipped over. Lastly, the stock of Broadcom was able to record a gain of nearly one percent after it was announced that the investment firm KKR will acquire a software company of the semiconductor manufacturer.