The floor of the New York Stock Exchange (AFP/ANGELA WEISS)
The New York Stock Exchange ended higher on Friday, supported by poor American indicators which gave investors hope of a rate cut closer than expected.
Like the day before, the Nasdaq and S&P 500 indices recorded new closing records, gaining 1.14% and 0.80% respectively. The Dow Jones gained 0.23%.
The session was led by the latest macroeconomic data, “which indicates that the Fed (American central bank) could have more reasons to reduce its rate in May”, estimated Sam Stovall, of CFRA.
The ISM index of activity in the manufacturing sector in the United States fell to 47.8% in February, against 49.1% in January, well below the 49.5% announced by economists.
The two other figures of the day also disappointed, whether the consumer confidence index measured by the University of Michigan or construction spending, which fell by 0.2% over one month in January.
Weighed down by this small vintage, bond rates suddenly relaxed. The yield on 10-year US government bonds fell to 4.18%, compared to 4.25% the day before at closing.
After a timid start, the New York market took off at a trot, regaining its appetite for risk. Stocks, oil and precious metals were all part of the party.
In this cheerful climate, the stars of the technology sector once again led the parade.
The superstar of the rating, Nvidia, jumped 4%, closing beyond the 2,000 billion dollars in market valuation, a club frequented only by Microsoft, Apple and the oil company Saudi Aramco.
The entire semiconductor industry was celebrated, whether AMD (+5.25%), Broadcom (+7.59%), Intel (+1.79%) or Qualcomm (+3 .36%).
“The US stock market is outpacing the world,” commented ForexLive’s Adam Button.
For the analyst, the fact that Friday corresponded to the first session of March further accentuated the momentum, the beginning of the month often being the occasion for new financial flows.
“Traditionally, when January and February have been positive, we record, on average, an increase in March,” recalls Sam Stovall. “So it could be a good month longer.”
Full of its passion for the new economy, the New York market has shunned so-called defensive stocks, that is to say theoretically less sensitive to the economic situation, such as Nike (-1.62%) or Coca-Cola (- 0.82%).
Intoxicated, Wall Street paid no attention to the setbacks of the regional credit institution New York Community Bancorp (NYCB), in free fall (-25.89%) after having reported, Thursday, after the stock market, of failures of its internal control and the resignation of its general director.
NYCB, which had taken over its failing competitor Signature Bank during the banking crisis of March 2023, was already considered the weak link in the American banking system, weakened by a large commercial real estate credit portfolio.
The Dell IT group was propelled (+31.62%) by its results above expectations. It reported strong demand for its servers following the explosion of remote computing.
Spirit AeroSystems took off (+15.31%), after the Wall Street Journal reported discussions with Boeing (-1.83%), its former parent company, with a view to a possible takeover by the American aircraft manufacturer .
© 2024 AFP
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