Operators of the New York Stock Exchange (GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP/SPENCER PLATT)
The New York Stock Exchange ended Friday on a mixed note, after a consolidation session which nevertheless saw the Dow Jones sign its tenth positive session in a row, for the first time in nearly six years.
The star index of the New York place gleaned 0.01%, the Nasdaq index lost 0.22% and the broader S&P 500 index nibbled 0.03%.
The Dow Jones’ all-time high for daily gains, 14 straight gains, dates back to 1896, according to figures provided by S&P Global’s Howard Silverblatt.
After initiating a rebound at the start of the session, the day after a correction, technology stocks finally registered a further sharp decline to end the week.
Meta (-2.73%), Nvidia (-2.66%) or data analysis specialist Palantir (-4.09%) led the retreat.
It’s profit-making time for these new-economy companies, which have been levitating since the start of the year, thanks in part to the vogue for artificial intelligence.
The reaction to the results of Netflix and Tesla, generally positive but a little below expectations, showed that the market “expects perfection” from these flagships of the American economy, otherwise it bristles, commented Art Hogan, of B. Riley Wealth Management.
“It’s not surprising to have periods of consolidation,” said Angelos Kourkafas of Edward Jones, “because the market has gone up a lot.”
However, the venerable Dow Jones narrowly escaped this break, to finish, once again, in the green.
It owes it to values like Johnson & Johnson (+ 1.06%), whose results had seduced, Thursday, as well as the oil company Chevron (+ 1.46%), Procter & Gamble (+ 1.57%) or the Merck laboratory (+ 1.78%).
These big names had been treading water since the beginning of the year before beginning to attract investors looking for bargains in recent weeks.
Also shunned so far, banks have joined the party, like Goldman Sachs (+0.31%) and Bank of America (+0.92%).
“We see a broadening of the values that carry” the market, notes Angelo Kourkafas.
The Dow Jones could even have done better on Friday without the slippage of American Express (-3.89%), down sharply despite a quarterly net profit above expectations.
Investors focused on the jump in provisions for bad debts, which almost tripled compared to the same period last year, a sign that the specialist in credit cards expects a deterioration in the economy.
SLB, formerly Schlumberger, was penalized (-2.18%) for quarterly revenue below analysts’ forecasts. The oil services group, listed in New York, however said it was optimistic for the second half, observing an acceleration in oil exploration.
The small value DWAC (Digital World Acquisition Corp), supposed to merge with Donald Trump’s media group and thus open the doors of the Stock Exchange to him, was propelled (+ 50.30%) by the announcement, Thursday, of an amicable agreement with the Market Regulatory Authority, the SEC.
If successful, the deal would see Trump Media and Technology Group (TMTG) receive more than $1 billion in new money.
The railway company CSX fell back (-3.71%) after publishing a turnover below expectations, affected by a slowdown in multimodal transport (which includes several modes of transport).
The total absence of macroeconomic indicators helped keep the New York market in a kind of summer torpor on Friday.
The stagnation of the equity market was also observed on the bond side, a breather after the brutal movements since the beginning of July.
The yield on 10-year US government bonds eased slightly to 3.83% from 3.85% at the close on Thursday.
© 2023 AFP
Did you like this article ? Share it with your friends with the buttons below.
