PARIS (Reuters) – The New York Stock Exchange is trading on a cautious note in early trading on Tuesday after the publication of numerous corporate results and on the eve of decisions by the Federal Reserve, which could give a boost to the tightening of its monetary policy.
A few minutes after opening, the Dow Jones index lost 16.7 points, or 0.05%, to 33,044.8 points and the Standard & Poor’s 500 fell 0.05% to 4,153.12 points.
The Nasdaq Composite lost 0.31%, or 38.482 points, to 12,497.535.
On the bond market, the session was marked by the sharp drop in sovereign yields: that of ten-year Treasury bonds fell to 2.9322% after having exceeded 3% the day before for the first time since December 2018 ahead of the announcements of the Fed on Wednesday.
If investors are broadly anticipating a half-point rate hike, they will be watching U.S. central bank President Jerome Powell’s speech closely for hints about the future path of rates and balance sheet shrinkage.
In corporate news, US cosmetics giant Estee Lauder fell 7.56% after lowering its profit target due to the health situation in China and the war in Ukraine.
Pfizer is almost stable (-0.27%) after maintaining its sales targets for its oral treatment and the vaccine against COVID-19 and Paramount Global loses 7.50% after publishing sales below estimates.
On the rise, the computer group Western Digital jumped 11.26% after the activist fund Elliott urged it to part with its flash memory business, which it considers less efficient.
(Written by Laetitia Volga, edited by Jean-Michel Bélot)