(CercleFinance.com) – Wall Street is back on the rise, the US indices finished at the highest of the day: if the Dow Jones lost 0.25% to 38,972, the S&P500 closed in the green (+0.17% at 38,972). 5,078), the Nasdaq Composite advances 0.37% to 16,035 (five points from its record) and the Nasdaq-100 (+0.2%) ends 0.15% from its closing record of 18,000.
As operators are accustomed to having the indices end at the highest to end the month, this looks good 48 hours before the deadline, as long as the ‘PCE’ inflation figure does not come to shower Wall Street on Thursday.
The Nasdaq benefited from increases in Palo +4%, Micron +2.7%, Netflix +2.4%, Illumina +2%, Apple +0.8%, Alphabet +1%. The index failed to reach 18,000 due to the decline of Amgen -2.8%, Electronic Arts -2%, Adobe -1.5%, Broadcom -1%.
As investors prepare for several key statistics to come in the coming days, high valuations threaten to condemn the American stock market to a standstill.
At 23 times expected earnings, the S&P 500 index, which is already up more than 6% since January 1, displays a valuation 35% higher than its historical average of 17 times over 20 years, according to Citi.
In this sense, Thursday’s publication of the PCE index of consumer spending excluding food and energy, the indicator favored by the Federal Reserve to assess inflation, will serve as a test.
On the statistical side, American household morale suffered a clear deterioration in February (from 110.9 to 106.7), according to the Conference Board’s monthly survey. For Dana Peterson, its chief economist, this sudden deterioration reflects the persistent uncertainty surrounding the American economy.
Durable goods orders in the United States fell 6.1% in January compared to December, more than expected. Excluding the transport sector, where orders plunged by 16.2%, however, they fell by only 0.3% last month.
On the bond market, the pause in the stock markets (‘risk-on’) and the day’s mediocre figures do not favor a return on Treasuries, the yield on the American ten-year rate was moving around 4.300% against 4.285% on Monday.
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