The floor of the New York Stock Exchange (GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP/Jemal Countess)
The New York Stock Exchange finished narrowly in the green on Thursday, standing still throughout the session, without managing to cross the symbolic and historic bar of 5,000 points for the S&P 500 index, the most representative of the American market.
The Dow Jones which gained 0.13% to 38,726.33 points and the broader S&P 500 index which gained 0.06% to 4,997.91 points, reached new highs, despite these minimal increases.
The predominantly technological Nasdaq gained 0.24% to 15,793.71 points.
During the session, the S&P 500 rose to within one point of 5,000 before giving up the little ground it had gained.
“When this milestone of 5,000 points is reached, it will be a significant milestone. It is only a number, but it is symbolic of the strength that we have seen in the actions despite everything that is happening in the world,” he said. commented for AFP, Angelo Kourkafas, investment strategist at Edward Jones.
The market digested many corporate results, with Disney and microprocessor maker Arm Holding attracting all the investor interest. Bond rates rose to 4.15% for the ten-year bond compared to 4.12% the day before.
Disney rose 11.49% to $110.53, a one-year high for shares in the enchanted kingdom.
After good profits, the distribution of an increased dividend and a reduction in losses from its Disney+ streaming service, the group also made several announcements in entertainment.
The Californian group achieved 23.55 billion dollars in turnover for the period from October to December, the first quarter of its staggered financial year, of which it generated 2.15 billion in net profit, more than expected.
Disney also announced an investment in Epic Games, the publisher of the video game phenomenon Fortnite, for $1.5 billion.
Listed in New York, the British champion of microprocessors Arm, a subsidiary of the Japanese group SoftBank, soared 47.89% to 113.89 dollars, which pushed its market valuation well above 100 billion dollars. .
Between October and December, SoftBank posted a net profit of 950 billion yen (5.9 billion euros), compared to a heavy loss equivalent to 5.5 billion euros a year earlier.
SoftBank congratulated itself on Thursday for having diversified its investment portfolio in recent years, to initiate a shift towards artificial intelligence via Arm.
The shares of Confluent, a cloud services group, were highly sought after (+34.09%), after a turnover up 26% year-on-year in the fourth quarter. For the first time, the group generated a positive operating margin.
Electronic payment group Paypal fell 11.24%. While its fourth quarter exceeded expectations with sales of $8.03 billion, its profit forecast for 2024 disappointed the market.
The toy manufacturer Mattel (+0.32%) posted increased results in the fourth quarter, but it expects stable turnover in 2024 and has launched a new savings plan.
The Barbie line, which represents a quarter of the group’s sales in the fourth quarter of 2023, saw its sales jump 27% riding on the eponymous film, the biggest box office success of the year.
The macroeconomic front was calm except for weekly applications for unemployment benefits which fell by 9,000 to 218,000, showing that the American labor market is still strong.
“The CPI inflation index, expected on Tuesday, will be the next catalyst,” predicted Angelo Kourkafas. “This will be a determining factor in knowing whether the 5,000 points of the S&P 500 will constitute a short-term ceiling or a step to go further and invite more investors” to bet on stocks.
© 2024 AFP
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