New York (awp / afp) – The New York Stock Exchange rebounded on Wednesday, fueled by the tone deemed moderate by the President of the American Central Bank (Fed) and the announcement of the resumption of Russian-Ukrainian talks.
The Dow Jones gleaned 1.79% to 33,891.35 points, the Nasdaq index, under technological influence, took 1.62% to 13,752.01 points, and the broader S&P 500 index gained 1.86. %, at 4,386.54 points.
Investors were sensitive to the cautious tone of Fed Chairman Jerome Powell speaking before the House Financial Services Committee, according to Jack Ablin, head of investment strategy at Cresset Capital.
Although he announced a quarter-point increase in the institution’s key rate at the end of its meeting on March 15 and 16, the official delivered a measured message, which suggests a very gradual monetary tightening. .
“We will proceed in a cautious way,” he declared during his hearing. “We will avoid adding uncertainty to what is already an extraordinarily difficult and uncertain time.”
Investors also welcomed the announcement of a new round of negotiations between Ukrainian and Russian emissaries on Thursday, which should include a possible ceasefire.
“There is the perception of progress between Russia and Ukraine”, commented Jack Ablin, even if the fighting continued, in particular in Kharkiv, the second city of the country, on the seventh day of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
The analyst mentioned, to illustrate the impression of investors, the fall in the values of the defense and armaments sector, such as Lockheed Martin (-1.45%) or Raytheon (-1.94%), boosted these last sessions by the Russian attack on Ukraine.
The easing was also flagrant on the bond market. The rate of 10-year US government bonds thus rose from 1.69% initially to 1.90%, an unusual jump in a market where variations are often measured in hundredths of a percentage point (0.01 point). .
For analysts at Briefing.com, the fact that equity markets rose despite a new bout of oil fever “could be attributed to the belief that crude prices have peaked”.
ExxonMobil was sought after (+1.72% to 80.53 dollars) despite the announcement of the withdrawal of its last major project in Russia, the American thus imitating its competitors BP, Shell or Eni.
In general, soaring oil prices boosted companies in the sector, from Chevron (+2.95%) to Halliburton (+2.55%), via Marathon Petroleum (+2.64%).
Another track from Wednesday’s fine session on Wall Street, again according to Briefing.com, is that of a technical rebound after a too marked drop in recent days.
After having fallen significantly since the start of the invasion of Ukraine, the two largest global capitalizations, Apple (+2.06%) and Microsoft (+1.78%), have regained color.
As for Ford, it benefited (+8.38% to 18.10 dollars) from the announcement of the creation of an entity dedicated to its electric cars (Ford Model e), distinct from its traditional activities, now gathered under the Ford Blue brand.
The historic American manufacturer has also quantified the investment it intends to devote to electricity at 50 billion dollars.
The young shoots in the sector, such as Rivian (-13.49%), Nikola (-1.44%) or Lucid (-1.64%), reacted badly to this communication, which, on the other hand, did not moved Tesla shareholders (+1.80%).
The department store chain Nordstrom spent the session in orbit (+37.82% to 26.93 dollars) after the publication of results above expectations and forecasts deemed positive for the current fiscal year.
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