The floor of the New York Stock Exchange (GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP/SPENCER PLATT)
The New York Stock Exchange was moving slightly in the green after a hesitant opening on Wednesday, before the publication of the minutes of the last meeting of the American central bank (Fed).
The Dow Jones index advanced 0.37%, the technology-dominated Nasdaq gained 0.06%, and the S&P 500 index rose 0.22%, around 2:25 p.m. GMT.
On Tuesday, Wall Street closed on its worst session since July, worried about the weakening of the Chinese economy and warnings about the American banking sector.
The Dow Jones index fell 1.02% to 34,946.39 points, the Nasdaq lost 1.14% to 13,631.05 points and the broader S&P 500 index dropped 1.16% to 4,437.86 points.
“These declines follow a string of gains large enough that the August pullback continues to be considered a normal period of summer consolidation,” Patrick O’Hare of Briefing.com said, noting that disposals had hitherto involved low volumes.
On Wednesday at 6:00 p.m., investors will be on the lookout for the release of the Fed’s “minutes” looking to gauge how inclined the central bank is to pause rate hikes while determined to keep them high for a while as that inflation is showing mixed signs.
On July 26, the Fed resumed rate hikes, bringing them to between 5.25% and 5.50%, a 22-year high.
Among the indicators of the day, industrial production in the United States rose again in July, after two consecutive months of decline, exceeding market expectations.
Carried mainly by public utility services such as the supply of electricity for air conditioning in this period of extreme heat, it increased by 1% over one month, after a drop of 0.8% in June. Over one year, it remains down 0.3%.
On the housing market front, housing starts rose 3.9% in July, close to expectations, but building permit applications, which give an indication of market developments, are almost stable ( +0.1%).
As for values, the title of Target department stores jumped 4.41% after posting net earnings per share above forecasts on a quarterly turnover nevertheless in decline.
The group, which has suffered from controversy over its articles celebrating the LGBT+ community, lowered its earnings forecast for the year and signaled that consumers were starting to spend less.
Target’s results “reveal the cracks that are beginning to appear in consumption. Although sales growth has already slowed for some time, this is the first time in six years that sales have fallen,” said Neil Saunders. from GlobalData.
The Mediterranean-inspired fast food chain Cava, which went public last June, lost 0.99% after results that were nonetheless tasty. Its turnover rose 18% compared to a number of comparable brands. Cava celebrated a green quarter for the first time with a profit of $6.5 million on sales of $173 million.
Progressive, auto and home insurance giant, soared 8.34% after results beat expectations.
Banks, which had plunged on Tuesday following comments from the Fitch rating agency that did not rule out a downgrade in the banking sector’s rating, continued to look gray. Bank of America lost 1.09%, Citigroup -0.61% and JPMorgan -0.16%.
© 2023 AFP
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