The floor of the New York Stock Exchange (GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP/SPENCER PLATT)
The New York Stock Exchange was in decline on Tuesday, after solid gains the day before, showing caution as a monetary meeting of the American Central Bank (Fed) begins.
The Dow Jones index lost 0.39%, the technology-dominated Nasdaq lost 0.58%, the broader S&P 500 index fell 0.28% around 2:00 p.m. GMT.
On Monday, the Dow Jones gained 1.58%, the S&P 500 1.20% and the Nasdaq 1.16%. In this last session of the month, the three indices are on the path to record their third negative month in a row.
So far in October, the Dow Jones and the S&P 500 will end down 1.7% and 2.8% respectively, while the Nasdaq will have fallen 3%.
Wall Street will keep an eye on the Fed which will announce its decision on interest rates on Wednesday accompanied by a press conference by its president Jerome Powell.
“Almost everyone expects rates to be left unchanged between 5.25% and 5.50% with only a 1.4% chance of being raised again,” assured Art Hogan of B. Riley Wealth Management.
“By December, the bets are more nuanced, with 20% thinking that an increase is possible,” he added, referring to calculations on futures products carried out by CME Group.
Ten-year bond rates eased slightly to 4.86% compared to 4.89% the day before.
But while before the opening, Wall Street was preparing to start the session on the rise, according to futures products, two indexes published Tuesday before the bell, moderated the momentum of stocks and reminded investors that inflation is still very present.
The employment cost index in the third quarter increased more than expected (+1.1%): “the Fed will want to see more of a slowdown in wage increases to really stop raising rates”, commented Nancy Vanden Houten of Oxford Economics.
In addition, the Case Shiller house price index, released for August, “surprised to the upside,” said HFE’s Rubeela Farooqi. Housing prices continued to rise, climbing to 2.2% year-on-year in the twenty largest American cities.
On the market, Caterpillar, a heavyweight on the Dow Jones, weighed down the market (-5.75%). When announcing results, although better than expected in the third quarter, investors focused on the slowdown in sales growth of the construction equipment giant. Its turnover has declined in Latin America and Asia.
The Pfizer laboratory was also sanctioned (-1.64%) while it suffered a loss in the third quarter linked to a reduction in its stocks of products (vaccines and treatments) against Covid-19 due to lower sales.
Between July and September, its turnover fell by 42% year-on-year to 13.23 billion – slightly below consensus – but it increased by 10% on a like-for-like basis excluding Covid products.
The biotechnology laboratory Amgen fell almost 4% despite a better-than-expected quarterly profit, however overshadowed by slightly weaker sales at $6.9 billion.
The low-cost airline JetBlue took a nosedive (-14% to $3.60) as the lawsuit brought by the government to oppose its purchase of its rival Spirit Airlines began in Boston.
Spirit accepted JetBlue’s $3.8 billion offer last July, which raised opposition from competition authorities. Spirit Airlines fell 7.27% to $12.11.
The social network Pinterest soared by almost 17% to $29. Its quarterly results and sales ($763 million) were much better than expected.
© 2023 AFP
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