The stock exchanges in New York were mostly at a loss in the middle of the session on Friday. Chipmaker Intel went on sale after worse than expected results. Further, investors are still awaiting the outcome of the negotiations on a new stimulus package. According to Finance minister Steven Mnuchin and president of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi, an agreement is within reach.
The leading Dow Jonesex index was 0.4 percent lower by 19.30 (Dutch time) at 28.256 points. The wide S & P 500 was close to 3453 points, and Nasdaq index dropped 0.1 percent to 11,495 points.
Mnuchin and Pelosi, after many negotiations, are close to a deal for a support package of around $2 trillion. If such an agreement has been reached, the Senate will have to vote on it, and it does not seem to have any intention of approving it for the time being. In addition, after a deal has been reached, it will take time to put it into a legislative proposal. However, investors are increasingly confident that the aid will actually come about.
Intel lost almost 11 percent. The chip maker suffered from production delays and reduced demand for chips for data centres. Due to the pandemic, many companies and governments left it to place orders. Competitors Nvidia and AMD were up to 2.4 percent.