(CercleFinance.com) – The New York Stock Exchange is evolving without a clear trend on Thursday following the publication of stronger than expected economic indicators which encourage investors to be cautious.
If the Dow Jones manages to grab 0.1% to 34,491.5 points at the end of the morning, the Nasdaq Composite still loose around 1% to 13,744.4 points.
The two indices had opened sharply lower, but the trend has become more and more uncertain over the minutes, with in particular some cheap buybacks on the stocks that had suffered the most in recent weeks.
Only four of the 11 major S&P sector indices are in the green, with the most marked increase coming from the collective sector compartment (+1.1%) followed by telecoms, health and basic consumption.
It must be said that the US statistics above expectations published in the morning are unlikely to encourage investors to relaunch their purchases while the S&P 500 aligns three consecutive sessions of decline.
Claims for unemployment benefits unexpectedly fell by 13,000 in the week of August 28, to 216,000 against 229,000 the previous week, a figure which suggests that the labor market remains dynamic.
Other data released at the same time show that unit labor costs increased by 2.2% in the second quarter, a figure revised sharply higher after a rise of 1.6% in the previous estimate.
These elements are naturally fueling the ongoing debate on the advisability of further interest rate hikes by the Federal Reserve, against a backdrop of resilient growth and persistent inflation.
Among the best performers in the Dow, McDonald’s rose 0.7% in response to a positive opinion from Wells Fargo analysts.
Among the significant drops of the day, Apple (-3.5%) continues its heavy fall of the day before while Beijing has banned employees of government agencies from professional use of the iPhone.
With the hesitations of Walt Street, the better than expected indicators do not favor a rise in the yields of Treasury bonds since that of ten-year securities is now returning towards 4.28%.
Oil prices are stabilizing on the New York NYMEX market following the announcement of a further decline in crude oil inventories, with an October contract on US light crude (West Texas Intermediate, WTI) losing 0 .1% to 87.5 dollars per barrel.
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