Shares of pharmaceutical giant Pfizer fell 5.1 percent. After the disappointing study results, the company decided not to move forward with the diet pill project. Not only were the results weaker than analysts expected, but many patients are said to have withdrawn from treatment due to side effects.
The Fed warns
The broad rise in recent weeks came despite warnings from Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell. In a speech at Spelman College in Atlanta on Friday, the president stated that it was too early to predict interest rate cuts.
– It is too early to conclude that we have reached a sufficient level in our monetary policy. It is too early to predict when the restrictive policy will be eased.
On Friday afternoon, new PMI figures were released from the US which showed that the level of activity in the industry fell as expected in November. Last month’s S&P Global final PMI fell as expected from 50.0 to 49.4 points, according to Trading Economics.
The closely watched ISM Manufacturing Index remained unchanged at 46.7 in November, while expectations were for an increase to 47.6 points. In October, it fell to 46.7 points, well below the consensus, after hitting a 10-month high of 49 points in September. 50 points is the difference between decreased and increased activity levels.
Oil price
OPEC+ agreed on Thursday to extend voluntary cuts by 900,000 barrels to a total of 2.2 million barrels per day in the first quarter of 2024. This is less than the market had previously expected, and oil prices fell.
A barrel of North Sea oil fell 1.6 percent to $79.1 a barrel, while American light oil fell 1.6 percent to $74.4 a barrel.
The decline in oil prices did not significantly affect oil companies on Friday. Exxon Mobil shares fell 0.2 percent, while Chevron shares rose 0.8 percent. ConocoPhillips shares fell 0.3 percent.
Tanker companies benefit from lower-than-expected OPEC cuts. DHT shares rose 2.6 percent, while Frontline shares, led by John Frederiksen, rose 1.4 percent. Herbjørn Hansson’s North American Tanker stock rose 4.1 percent.
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