US investors are taking a breather

After three days of price gains in a row, US investors are taking a breather. The Dow Jones standard value index held at 35,754.69 points. The broad S&P 500 slipped 0.7 percent to 4667.45 points, the technology-heavy Nasdaq fell 1.7 percent and fell to 15,517.37 points. The current setbacks are only about profit-taking, said Peter Cardillo, chief economist at the Spartan financial adviser. The announcement by the pharmaceutical company Pfizer that three doses of the coronavirus vaccine developed together with the German company Biontech are an effective protection against the newly discovered Omikron variant prevents a major sell-out. On the other hand, new pandemic restrictions in Britain and other countries fueled fears of lower demand on the crude oil market. The downgrading of the creditworthiness of the ailing real estate company China Evergrande and its also ailing smaller rival Kaisa also hit the mood. A crash of the Chinese real estate market could reduce the growth of the People's Republic and thus the oil hunger of the world's largest buyer, warned analyst Louise Dickson from the brokerage house Rystad. Cryptocurrency investors were also nervous and pulled out of Bitcoin. The cyber currency fell to $ 47,878. Against this background, values ​​from the cryptocurrency sector and companies that deal with the blockchain technology underlying Bitcoin & Co flew out of the depots. The stocks of the electric car maker Tesla and the software company MicroStrategy, which have invested billions in Bitcoin, lost 6.1 and 7 percent respectively. Uber's stocks also came under pressure, losing 3.3 percent. The EU Commission is declaring war on the bogus self-employment of employees of transport services and food suppliers. According to a bill, companies should employ drivers, for whom they establish rules of conduct and determine payment, as employees, thereby granting them paid vacation, pension entitlements and a minimum wage. In Europe, the papers of the "Foodpanda" operator Delivery Hero and the "Lieferando" mother Just Eat Takeaway lost 2 and 3.1 percent, respectively. GameStop also went downhill. The papers of the video game dealer, which caused a sensation at the beginning of the year with capricious prices, slipped by up to 10.3 percent. The company issued an order from the US Securities and Exchange Commission to release documents related to fluctuations in the share price. GameStop has sufficient reserves to finance the planned transformation of the business model, commented analyst Stephanie Wissink from the investment bank Jefferies. It is unclear whether these efforts will also be crowned with success.