The floor of the New York Stock Exchange (GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP/Jemal Countess)
The New York Stock Exchange closed Wednesday in disorganized order after a stronger-than-expected barometer of activity in the United States which strained bond rates and slowed the momentum of stocks.
The S&P 500 index, almost stable (+0.08%), was nevertheless able to barely post a new record, the fourth in a row, at 4,868.55 points. The predominantly technological Nasdaq gained 0.36% to 15,481.92 points but the Dow Jones lost 0.26% to 37,806.39 points.
The shares were first “stimulated by gains in technology stocks” in the wake of Netflix action (+10.70% to $544.87), “after the company announced on Tuesday that it had gained 13.1 million subscribers in the last three months of 2023,” noted Art Hogan, analyst at B. Riley Wealth Management.
“This is the best quarter for the streaming giant since the pandemic when people were cooped up at home,” he stressed.
After the market closed, Tesla, which ended down 0.63%, fell almost 3% in post-closing electronic trading at 9:20 p.m. GMT after the publication of disappointing results.
The electric vehicle manufacturer announced results below market expectations in the fourth quarter, affected in particular by a drop in the average selling price.
He also warned that the rate of growth in volumes could be “significantly lower” for the current financial year, compared to that recorded in 2023.
IBM, on the other hand, soared by almost 6% after the close. The IT group reported 4% growth in revenue in the fourth quarter, beating expectations.
Witness to the attraction of technology, the market capitalization of Microsoft exceeded 3,000 billion dollars on Wall Street on Wednesday, the IT group closely following its competitor Apple, the largest capitalization on the stock market.
Microsoft’s stock climbed 0.92% to $402, the group having briefly exceeded the $3,000 billion capitalization mark during the session, behind Apple.
Microsoft and many technology groups are riding the enthusiasm generated by the deployment of artificial intelligence (AI).
The momentum of the indices then weakened throughout the session after the publication of the S&P PMI activity barometers which came out more dynamic than expected for both the manufacturing and services sectors.
According to these indicators, manufacturing activity accelerated significantly, returning to the expansion zone at 50.3 compared to 47.9 in December. As for services, they also saw activity increase to 52.9 compared to 51.4 the month before.
These good figures caused a reversal in the trajectory of bond yields. These, which were down in the morning, favoring stocks, returned to the rise. Thus the ten-year rate rose to 4.17% instead of 4.12% the day before.
“Stocks are coming down a little from their highs because in the short term the market seems a little overbought. In addition, the rise in bond yields does not help,” commented Karl Haeling of LBBW.
According to him, the vitality of the American economy seems to be playing out the same scenario as last year. “The same trend continues where we see stronger than expected economic growth without the expected slowdown occurring.”
“Overall, it is rather favorable for stocks because it gives hope of a soft landing, which is one of the main factors in market performance associated with the leadership of tech stocks,” added the analyst interviewed. by AFP.
The telecommunications company AT&T lost almost 3% after adjusting its results forecasts for 2024 downwards. At the end of 2023, the company nevertheless saw growth in the number of its mobile telephone subscribers.
The stationer and hygiene products group Kimberly Clark was sanctioned (-5.53%).
The group published results below expectations in the fourth quarter, affected by unfavorable exchange rates and despite higher than expected sales.
© 2024 AFP
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