A New York Stock Exchange operator (GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP/SPENCER PLATT)
The New York Stock Exchange ended on a mixed note on Tuesday, with the Nasdaq falling as it waited for results from tech mega-caps to fall after the close of trading.
The Dow Jones index gained 0.35% to 38,467.31 points, which allowed it to reach a new high. The Nasdaq, with a strong technological coloring, fell by 0.76% to 15,509.90 points and the S&P 500 lost 0.06% to 4,924.97 points.
The busiest week of the results season continued with, among others, those of General Motors (+7.81%), whose action was sought after figures above expectations in the fourth quarter of 2023.
The car manufacturer was confident about its prospects in 2024 thanks to maintaining prices at a high level.
The express carrier UPS collapsed by 8.19%. Not only will the group cut 12,000 jobs, but its volume of activity fell by 7.3% in the fourth quarter.
Investors especially watched the quarterly results of two of the “Magnificent Seven” of the technology sector, published after the market closed, namely Microsoft (-0.28% at the close) and Alphabet, parent company of Google (-1. 16%).
Microsoft slipped 1.34% in trading just after the close, around 9:20 p.m. GMT, following the announcement of results that were better than expected, particularly in the cloud (remote computing).
Likewise, Alphabet lost a little more than 4% after the close, despite results also being stronger than expected with quarterly turnover of $86 billion.
Pharmaceutical giant Pfizer lost 1.67% after remaining in the red in the fourth quarter, weighed down as expected by the fall in revenues linked to its Comirnaty vaccine and its antiviral Paxlovid against Covid-19.
From October to the end of December, the laboratory made a loss of $3.37 billion, compared to a profit of $4.99 billion over the same period a year earlier.
While the market had to digest all these results, a monetary meeting of the American central bank (Federal Reserve, Fed) began on Tuesday and was due to end at midday on Wednesday.
“The Monetary Committee (of the Fed, Editor’s note) will most likely leave interest rates unchanged between 5.25% and 5.50%” for the third time in a row, estimated Art Hogan, analyst at B. Riley Wealth Management.
After raising its rates eleven times between March 2022 and July 2023, the Fed is instead considering lowering them in the future.
Investors are hoping to glean clues on Wednesday, during Fed Chairman Jerome Powell’s press conference, about the start of the declines to come.
Among the indicators, a new jump in American consumer morale was attested by the Conference Board’s monthly survey for January.
The index measuring consumer confidence climbed to 114.8 points, the highest since December 2021, after 108 points in December (revised downward).
“We observe an improvement in all age groups, and especially among those aged 55 and over,” noted the chief economist responsible for the survey, Dana Peterson.
On the job market, the JOLTS survey by the Ministry of Labor showed a further increase in available jobs in December, to 9.02 million, more than expected.
“If these trends continue, growth remains strong, inflation continues to fall, this is an ideal economic environment for the Fed which can choose its moment to lower rates if necessary,” commented Jack Ablin, head of investments at Cresset, interviewed by AFP.
“Then Jerome Powell will be on top of the world,” he added.
But for Andy Kapyrin, partner of portfolio manager Corient, “with a job market that remains strong, it is difficult to control inflation”, because of wage increases.
“I believe that the Fed will keep as many options open as possible (…) and that it will try to keep rates as they are for longer than the market expects,” said the analyst. .
On the bond market, ten-year rates eased slightly, to 4.03%, compared to 4.07% the day before.
© 2024 AFP
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