Amazon shares close lower on Thursday, on-line giant faces investigation by Austria’s competition authority

Austria’s competition authority announced on Thursday that an investigation had been embarked on into whether Amazon.com Inc (AMZN) was exploiting its leading market positions against retailers that make use of its website as a marketplace.

The announcement comes after a similar decision by German regulatory authorities, which said in November a probe had been launched into the US e-commerce giant.

Amazon shares closed lower for the fifth time in the past twelve trading sessions on NASDAQ on Thursday. The stock went down 1.06% ($17.35) to $1,622.65, after touching an intraday low at $1,607.40, or a price level not seen since February 12th ($1,598.88).

Shares of Amazon.com Inc have surged 8.03% so far in 2019 compared with a 9.53% gain for the benchmark index, S&P 500 (SPX).

In 2018, Amazon’s stock went up 28.43%, thus, it outperformed the S&P 500, which registered a 6.24% loss.

Austria’s competition authority intends to scrutinize terms and conditions under which Austrian vendors are granted access to Amazons marketplace.

“There is a suspicion that Amazon puts other retailers on a disadvantage on its marketplace, thereby trying to favor its own offerings,” the regulatory authority said in a statement, cited by Reuters.

In December, Austria’s competition authority had received complaints by local retailers against Amazon over its dual role as a retailer and a marketplace. They expressed concerns that the prices of the listed retailers on Amazons platform could undercut their prices.

According to CNN Money, the 41 analysts, offering 12-month forecasts regarding Amazon.com Inc’s stock price, have a median target of $2,100.00, with a high estimate of $2,450.00 and a low estimate of $1,800.00. The median estimate represents a 29.42% upside compared to the closing price of $1,622.65 on February 14th.

The same media also reported that 42 out of 48 surveyed investment analysts had rated Amazon.com Inc’s stock as “Buy”, while 1 – as “Hold”.

Weekly Pivot Levels

By using the traditional method of calculation, the weekly levels of importance for Amazon.com Inc (AMZN) are presented as follows:

Central Pivot Point – $1,609.08
R1 – $1,651.40
R2 – $1,714.58
R3 – $1,756.90
R4 – $1,799.22

S1 – $1,545.90
S2 – $1,503.58
S3 – $1,440.40
S4 – $1,377.22