PARIS (Reuters) – The New York Stock Exchange opened lower on Friday, penalized in particular by Intel’s results which are weighing on the entire semiconductor sector, but the further slowdown in inflation in the United States limits the decline clues.
In early trading, the Dow Jones index lost 3.21 points, or 0.01%, to 33,946.2 points and the broader Standard & Poor’s 500 fell 0.12% to 4,055.47 points.
The Nasdaq Composite lost 0.02%, or 2.41 points, to 11,509.996.
An hour before the opening, the US Commerce Department reported a 0.2% drop in consumer spending in the United States in December and a further deceleration in inflation as the US Federal Reserve (Fed) meets next Tuesday for two days.
The so-called PCE consumer price index, closely followed by the Fed, rose 0.1% last month, as in November. Over one year, however, its rise slowed to 5.0% after 5.3% in November.
The “core PCE” index, excluding energy and food, rose by 0.3% after 0.2% in November on a monthly basis, against an increase on an annual basis of 4.4% in December and 4 .7% in November.
The further slowdown in inflation is fueling hopes of a lull in the Fed’s rate hike.
Side corporate results, Intel plunged 10.93% after the announcement of a forecast net loss for the current quarter in a context of darkening prospects for the PC market and data centers. Its competitors AMD, Qualcomm, Nvidia, Applied Materials, Micron Technology, Broadcom and Nvidia fell by 0.4% to 3%. The semiconductor index dropped 1.82%.
Chevron lost 2.88% despite a record profit of $36.5 billion in 2022. However, this was below expectations due to asset write-downs and lower oil and gas prices.
Hasbro fell 4.02%, penalized by a forecast of lower-than-expected results for the fourth quarter while the toymaker will also cut around 15% of its workforce worldwide this year. Its competitor Mattel lost 0.93%.
On the upside, Visa and American Express advance respectively by 3.18% and 8.66% after the publication of their quarterly accounts.
Nearly a quarter of S&P 500 companies have now released their quarterly results and 69% of them beat analysts’ expectations, according to the latest data from Refinitiv.
(Written by Claude Chendjou, edited by Kate Entringer)