An operator of the New York Stock Exchange (AFP/ANGELA WEISS)
The New York Stock Exchange ended higher on Thursday, offering itself a small rebound after a dismal week, but caution remained in order before the start on Friday of a crucial sequence for the markets.
The Dow Jones gained 0.54%, the Nasdaq index rose 1.13% and the broader S&P 500 index rose 0.75%.
The S&P 500 ended a string of five consecutive declines, and eight in nine trading days.
“It seems this streak came to a halt not because of positive catalysts, but because of exhaustion,” commented Edward Moya of Oanda in a note.
Since last week, investors have tensed at the idea of a too heavy-handed American central bank (Fed) and an American economy programmed for a recession.
“I don’t think today’s session is a sign that that apprehension has subsided,” said Keith Buchanan of Globalt Investments. “She remains ubiquitous.”
Investors noted the weekly increase in the population of unemployment benefit recipients, which is at its highest since February.
For Nancy Vanden Houten, of Oxford Economics, this development testifies to the fact that “it is becoming more difficult for unemployment benefit recipients to find a job”, a sign of cooling of the labor market welcomed by Wall Street, because favorable to a deceleration of inflation.
The New York market is now in a waiting position before the publication, on Friday, of the producer price index (PPI) for November, which will be followed by the consumer price index (CPI), for the same month, Tuesday, and the Fed’s monetary policy decision, Wednesday.
If the indicators “show that inflation is coming back under control” and that the Fed “indicates a desire to be less offensive”, “this would restore the market’s appetite for risk”, enough to revive the equity markets, according to Keith Buchanan.
After falling sharply in recent weeks, bond yields rallied slightly on Thursday. The yield on 10-year US government bonds rose to 3.48%, from 3.41% on Wednesday.
After a disastrous start to December, Thursday’s session was the occasion for a bargain hunt, which benefited, among others, Apple (+ 1.21%), Airbnb (+ 3.64% ) and cable operator Comcast (+1.01%).
ExxonMobil was also sought (+0.74% to 104.42 dollars) after unveiling Thursday a series of medium and long-term objectives. The oil company notably plans to buy back 50 billion dollars of its own shares by the end of 2024, which has attracted investors.
Activision Blizzard suffered (-1.54% to 74.76 dollars) from the decision of the American Competition Authority (FTC) to challenge the takeover of the video game publisher by Microsoft, announced in January.
Tesla continued its slide (-0.34% to 173.44 dollars), which has cut the title by nearly 11% since Friday. The decline has earned Elon Musk, boss of the car manufacturer, to yield, again, first place in the ranking of world fortunes to the CEO of LVMH, the French Bernard Arnault.
Chinese stocks listed in New York jumped, helped by the relaxation of health rules in China. E-commerce platforms Alibaba (+6.61%), JD.com (+3.28%) and Pinduoduo (+6.16%) led the charge.
Individual investors have confirmed their support for GameStop (+11.37% to 24.79 dollars), the chain of video game stores that has become a symbol of “meme stocks”, these shares whose value has been pushed by a wind of speculation early 2021.
However, the group published a larger loss on Wednesday than expected by analysts, the seventh consecutive quarterly result in the red.
The Rent The Runway clothing rental platform soared (+74.26% to 2.37 dollars) after the publication of quarterly sales that exceeded expectations. The service now has more than 176,000 subscribers.
© 2022 AFP
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