(CercleFinance.com) – Wall Street opened slightly lower on Monday after having posted seven weeks of increases out of nine since the start of the year, a dynamic which allowed it to set a series of records.
At the end of the morning, the Dow Jones fell 0.3% to 38,968 points, while the Nasdaq Composite fell 0.2% to 16,243.9 points.
Since January 1, the S&P 500, the benchmark index for fund managers, has gained nearly 7%, driven by better-than-expected economic indicators and the good health of major technology stocks.
This jump in the American stock market is prompting some investors to be cautious and take a pause today, even if many professionals believe that the bullish sentiment remains intact.
‘We can expect the recent market logic of buying stocks when they are performing well and selling them when they are weak to continue,’ says one trader.
‘Opportunities remain limited and it is unlikely that the concentration of the increase that we have observed until recently will be interrupted,’ he adds.
‘The ten main capitalizations of the S&P alone show a gain of 18% this year,’ concludes the market operator.
Deprived of catalysts today, investors are impatiently awaiting the publication on Friday of the latest employment figures, which should provide their diagnosis on the evolution of the American economy.
The good performance of the economy, which exceeds estimates, could once again support the growth of results and constitute a positive backdrop for the equity markets.
‘The unemployment rate has never exceeded the 4% threshold over the last 26 months, a series not seen since the end of the 1960s’, recall the Raymond James teams.
On the value front, Ford is up 1.5% after reporting sales up 10.5% in February in the United States, driven by its deliveries of electric and hybrid vehicles.
Macy’s, for its part, climbed 15% after receiving an improved unsolicited offer from the two investment funds Arkhouse and Brigade.
On the oil market, a barrel of light Texas crude (WTI) has fallen below the $80 threshold despite OPEC+’s decision to extend production cuts into the second quarter.
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