The current hunt for records has stalled on Wall Street

The current hunt for records has stalled somewhat on Wall Street. The leading index Dow Jones Industrial and the broader S&P 500 had both reached new highs in early trading, but the momentum for the Dow quickly subsided. The latest economic data dampened the mood of investors somewhat: the consumer climate in the US deteriorated surprisingly and significantly in August. In the end, the Dow closed almost unchanged at 35,515 points, but recorded a gain of 0.9 percent on a weekly basis. For the broader S&P 500, it went up by almost 0.2 percent to 4468 positions. The technology-heavy Nasdaq 100 climbed 0.3 percent to 15,137 points. It is still a bit away from a peak. Company balance sheets, the ongoing economic recovery and the approval of an extensive infrastructure package in the Senate had driven the indices from record to record in the past few days. Walt Disney, among others, contributed to the good mood on the last trading day of the week. Its own streaming service and amusement parks that were well attended despite the Corona crisis lifted the entertainment company back into profitability. Disney shares rose almost one percent. On the other hand, increasing cases of the virus variant Delta caused problems for Airbnb. That could affect the bookings of the online marketplace for accommodations in the current quarter, said the company. The shares initially lost 3.9 percent. Later they went out of trading with a plus of 1.1 percent. The mood of US consumers clouded over more strongly than it has been since December 2011, also because of the high inflation. The corresponding barometer fell in August to 70.2 counters from 81.2 in July, according to the University of Michigan. Economists, on the other hand, had expected stagnation. There have only been two major declines in the past 50 years. US exporters raised their prices sharply in July. The export prices rose by 17.2 percent compared to the same month last year, as the Ministry of Labor announced. Agricultural products, food and industrial supplies in particular rose significantly in price. However, the prices were also in the basement a year earlier because of the corona pandemic.