NEW YORK (Reuters) – The New York Stock Exchange ended slightly higher after an up-and-down session on Friday, reflecting contrasting indicators on the state of the American economy.
The Dow Jones index gained 0.07%, or 25.77 points, to 37,466.11 points.
The broader S&P-500 gained 0.18% and the Nasdaq Composite gained 13.77 points (0.09%) to 14,524.07 points.
Over the past week, the S&P fell 1.52%, the Dow Jones fell 0.59% and the Nasdaq fell 3.25%. For the S&P, this is its worst weekly performance since last October, for the Nasdaq, since last September.
The publication, an hour before the opening, of a monthly report on employment attesting to a significant number of job creations in December, higher than expectations, initially reduced the hopes entertained by investors of ‘a rapid rate cut by the Federal Reserve.
Subsequently, the drop in the ISM services index, to 50.6 in December compared to 52.7 in November, more likely to favor a relaxation of monetary policy, limited the losses of the indices, which finally completed the session in slightly positive territory.
Overall, caution seems to predominate at the start of 2024 after the strong upward movement at the end of last year, encouraged by the prospect of a rate cut, and any ingredient fueling the contrary hypothesis encourages profit-taking .
“For now, this looks like a healthy correction in a market that was overbought at the end of last year,” said Greg Boutle, director of equity and derivatives strategy for the United States at BNP Paribas.
“In terms of macroeconomic data, I think there is something for everyone,” he added.
According to CME Group’s FedWatch barometer, two-thirds of operators continue to bet on a cut of at least 25 basis points in Fed rates next March.
Banking stocks are still performing well, ahead of the start of the quarterly earnings season next week, and the sector’s S&P sub-index reached its highest level in 11 months, driven notably by regional banks like KeyCorp, Citizens Financial Group or Comerica.
On the downside, Applied Therapeutics plunged more than 40% as its heart disease treatment posted disappointing results in a late-stage clinical trial.
(David French, Jean-Stéphane Brosse for the French version)
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