The floor of the New York Stock Exchange (GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP/SPENCER PLATT)
The New York Stock Exchange ended higher on Thursday, with new closing records for the Dow Jones and the S&P 500, on a market which saw in the day’s indicators the promise of a soft landing for the American economy .
The Dow Jones appreciated by 0.64%, the Nasdaq rose by 0.18% and the broader S&P 500 index gained 0.53%. The latter signed his fifth record in a row at the closing on Thursday.
Even the Nasdaq managed to finish in the green, despite the plunge of Tesla (-12.13%), which lost some $80 billion in valuation over the session.
The car manufacturer published results below expectations, penalized by repeated price cuts, and warned that its growth this year would be “significantly lower” than that of 2023.
The absence of numerical forecasts and the lack of “confidence” displayed by managers during the conference call presenting the results were particularly worrying, according to Steve Sosnick of Interactive Brokers.
But operators welcomed the American growth figure, which reached 3.3% in the fourth quarter, at an annual rate, much more than the 2% anticipated by economists.
At other times, Wall Street could have tensed up at the idea of much more dynamic growth than expected, likely to encourage the American central bank (Fed) to remain firm for longer on the monetary level.
But “inside the report, we saw that inflation stood at 1.5% at an annualized rate, which is very good,” estimated Tom Cahill, of Ventura Wealth Management. “There’s something to make the Fed happy.”
“The fact that the (American) economy can remain so resilient despite such high interest rates, with unemployment remaining low and inflation sagging, is incredible,” commented Craig Erlam, of Oanda.
“The scenario of a soft landing is becoming more and more likely,” insisted Tom Cahill.
On the bond market, the yield on two-year US government bonds, which best reflects market expectations regarding the trajectory of monetary policy, stood at 4.31%, compared to 4.38% the day before at close. .
On the market, the Nasdaq was able to count on Alphabet (+2.19%), Netflix (+3.14%), still buoyed by its good results published Tuesday, as well as Comcast (+3.36%). The cable operator also favorably surprised the New York market, driven in particular by the Universal film studio, which benefited from several box office successes.
“So far, company results are generally good,” observed Tom Cahill. Still, he noted that only about a fifth of S&P 500 members have released their numbers at this point.
Investors welcomed the results of American Airlines (+10.27%), whose profit, modest ($19 million), was reduced by exceptional items and nevertheless came out above expectations.
The companies Alaska Airlines (+4.47%) and United Airlines (+5.19%), which own the largest fleets of 737 MAX 9s, moved forward after the American civil aviation regulator, the FAA, authorized the resumption of flights of these aircraft.
Boeing, on the other hand, was heckled (-5.72%), after the FAA, in the same communication, indicated that it would not authorize an increase in the production rate of the 737 MAX until further notice .
IBM soared (+9.49%) after publishing results which surpassed analysts’ projections. The group reported strong demand for its Watsonx generative artificial intelligence (AI) platform.
The aeronautics and defense group Northrop Grumman stumbled (-6.33%) after reporting that it would pass an exceptional charge of $1.2 billion linked to increased construction costs for the new B stealth bomber. -21.
© 2024 AFP
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