The facade of the New York Stock Exchange (AFP/ANGELA WEISS)
The New York Stock Exchange concluded modestly in the green on Wednesday, after hesitating at the start of the session and as a brilliant first half for the Wall Street indices soon comes to an end.
The Dow Jones index gained 0.04% to 39,127.80 points, the technology-dominated Nasdaq advanced 0.49% to 17,805.16 points and the S&P 500 rose 0.16% to 5,477.90 points. .
“The S&P 500 is on track to achieve a very positive performance for the first six months of the year, fueled by a rise in the biggest names in the market,” commented Jack Ablin of Cresset.
In the first half, the broader S&P 500 index, the most representative of the market, will have gained nearly 15%.
As for the Nasdaq, driven in particular by the cavalcade of Nvidia, the specialist in chips for artificial intelligence (AI), it has climbed 18.4% so far since the start of the year.
Nvidia stood still (+0.25%) on Wednesday after having gained almost 7% the day before, its first positive session in four days.
Boosted by investors’ enthusiasm for the adoption of AI in multiple sectors, the title of the processor designer has jumped 150% since the start of the year.
“Thanks to the enthusiasm for AI, Nvidia, while not as expensive as the Cisco server group from the dot-com boom days, remains expensive relative to the rest of the market and could potentially decline thanks to profit-taking” on the part of investors, commented Jack Ablin.
Also driven by the development of AI and the cloud, Amazon (+3.90% to $193.61) finished above $2,000 billion in market capitalization for the first time in its history.
Overall, the market remained timid while awaiting new indicators on the American economy.
On Thursday, the final estimate of third-quarter growth is due to be released along with May durable goods orders and jobless claims, a weekly barometer of the health of the labor market.
But above all, it is the PCE inflation index for May, the Fed’s preferred measure for judging price developments, which will attract attention on Friday.
Analysts expect inflation to have slowed year-on-year to 2.6% from 2.7% in April.
On the bond market, ten-year rates accelerated to 4.31% instead of 4.24% the day before.
On the market, the star of the session turned out to be Rivian shares, which concluded with a bang, up 23.24% to $14.74, the highest since February.
The stock was sought after Volkswagen announced on Tuesday a giant $5 billion investment to create an automotive software joint venture with the U.S. electric vehicle maker.
The company “will invest an initial amount of $1 billion in Rivian, before an additional investment of $4 billion, for a total amount of 5 billion euros,” Volkswagen said in a statement.
In the process, Tesla gained 4.81% and Lucid +4.00%.
FedEx shares soared 15.52% after the express carrier announced better-than-expected quarterly and annual results along with a structural savings plan that pleased investors.
The household appliance manufacturer Whirlpool took off 16.63%, press information indicating that the German Bosch is studying a purchase offer for the American.
Fast-food chain Chipotle Mexican Grill gained 0.29% to $65.85, the stock trading for the first time after its 50-for-one split, one of the largest stock splits in the history of Wall Street, intended to make the title, which reached some $2,900, more affordable.
The food giant General Mills fell 4.58% after announcing quarterly sales down year-on-year.
© 2024 AFP
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