The floor of the New York Stock Exchange (GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP/Jemal Countess)
The New York Stock Exchange ended Friday in disorganized order not far from balance while waiting to better assess the trend in company results and their activity projections.
The Dow Jones index lost 0.31% to 37,592.98 points, the Nasdaq, with its strong technological coloring, gained 0.02% to 14,972.76 points and the S&P 500 +0.08% to 4,783.83 points. .
Over the week, the broader S&P 500 index, the most representative of the market, gained 0.88%.
Wall Street indices made a foray into the green at the start of the session after the publication of the producer price index (PPI) in the United States which fell slightly, contrary to expectations.
Wholesale prices fell slightly (-0.1%) last month, offering a good surprise as a slight increase was expected, and bringing renewed optimism in the wake of inflation figures that were less good than expected. .
But the enthusiasm on the stock side was short-lived. In terms of the bond market, on the other hand, two-year short yields eased significantly to 4.14% compared to 4.24% the day before around 9:10 p.m. GMT.
“The market remains very optimistic about rate cuts, it could hardly be more so,” noted Steve Sosnick of Interactive Brokers.
“At present, the market is betting on an 85% chance of a rate cut by the Federal Reserve as early as March, despite the price index figure and the fact that the President of the Fed from Cleveland Loretta Mester said she didn’t see a drop as of March,” Steve Sosnick told AFP.
The CPI consumer price index published on Thursday was up (+3.4% over one year compared to 3.1% in November) which had moderately cooled Wall Street.
On the geopolitical front, the Israel-Hamas conflict moved to Yemen where the United States and the United Kingdom carried out overnight strikes against the Houthi rebels who have been threatening international maritime traffic in the Red Sea for weeks. “solidarity” with the Palestinians of Gaza.
Immediately, analyst comments noted that inflation figures “do not yet take into account new supply chain issues caused by the Red Sea conflict,” as Will Compernolle of FHN Financial noted.
But immediately, to continue towards new records, while the Dow Jones briefly reached a peak at the start of the session, the market “needs more proof on the side of company results”.
The fourth quarter announcement season got off to a flying start on Friday with several banks in particular.
Citigroup, which plunged into the red in the fourth quarter, announced plans to cut 20,000 positions in the medium term as part of a major restructuring affecting in particular the international activity of the bank. The stock gained 1.04%.
Bank of America fell by the same amount (-1.06%) after sharply declining results in the fourth quarter weighed down by exceptional charges and a reduction in deposits. Net profit stood at $3.1 billion (-56%) over one year.
JPMorgan Chase (-0.73%) also saw its net profit decline in the fourth quarter of 2023, due to a compulsory contribution to the deposit guarantee fund, a consequence of the spring banking crisis. Net profit stood at $9.3 billion, down 15% year-on-year.
Delta Airlines’ shares fell 8.97% despite stronger-than-expected quarterly results. Investors were disappointed by 2024 earnings per share projections.
In general, airline stocks weighed down the Dow Jones, as investors weighed the evolution of demand for the coming months and the impact of a rise in crude prices. United Airlines lost 10.63%, American Airlines lost 9.46%.
© 2024 AFP
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