The Nasdaq Composite technology index closed today’s trading on the New York Stock Exchange almost unchanged, while the Dow Jones index and the broader S&P 500 index posted modest gains. Throughout the day, U.S. stocks fluctuated between modest gains and losses as investors analysed minutes from the U.S. Federal Reserve (Fed)’s January meeting and digested U.S. President Donald Trump’s latest announcement on tariffs, Reuters reported.
The state of equities
The Dow Jones index comprising shares of the 30 leading U.S. companies rose 0.16 percent to 44,627.59 points. The broader S&P 500 index rose 0.24 percent to 6,144.15 points. The tech-heavy Nasdaq remained almost unchanged at 20,056.25 points.
The Japanese yen and other currencies considered safe haven strengthened. That’s because nervousness escalated in the foreign exchange market over U.S. President Donald Trump’s latest round of tariff threats and controversial talks on ending the Russia-Ukraine war, Reuters reported. Trump also verbally attacked Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky today and had suggested on Tuesday that Ukraine, which has resisted Russian aggression for nearly three years, caused the war.
Weakening of the dollar
The dollar weakened 0.38 percent against the yen to JPY151.46 around 10 p.m. EDT. The euro was down 0.6 percent against the Japanese currency at the same time to JPY157.90. The euro then weakened 0.22 percent against the dollar to $1.0425.
At the January monetary meeting, the Fed left its key interest rate unchanged. However, the newly released minutes show that central bankers expressed concern about persistent inflation and the potential impact of Trump’s policy proposals, particularly tariffs, on efforts to reduce price growth to the 2 percent target.
Source: Czech Press Office
