(Boursier.com) — Wall Street stumbles again this Wednesday, while the American market experienced a fairly brutal purge last night, particularly affecting major technological files, in the wake ofApple. The Nasdaq corrected last night by 1.63% and the S&P 500 by 0.57%, while the Dow Jones managed to finish very slightly in the green. This Wednesday, the S&P 500 lost another 0.79% to 4,705 pts, the Dow Jones 0.79% to 37,418 pts and the Nasdaq 1.01% to 14,618 pts.
Yesterday, it was above all a deterioration of Barclays on the file Apple which had weighed down the markets. The title of the world’s largest stock market capitalization fell 3.6%. This Wednesday, among the ‘Magnificent Seven’, it is Tesla which is currently suffering the most despite rather favorable news.
On the economic front across the Atlantic today, the American ISM manufacturing index for December 2023 stood at 47.4, in a contraction zone below the 50 mark, but above the market consensus measured by FactSet, which was 47.1. A month before, the indicator stood at 46.7. The new orders index was 47.1 compared to 48.3 in November.
According to the US Department of Labor this Wednesday, job openings in the United States for the month of November 2023 stood at 8.79 million, compared to 8.76 million FactSet consensus and 8.85 million a month previously, in revised reading.
The Minutes of the FOMC, the Fed’s monetary policy committee for December, will be known at 8 p.m. The Fed then opted for a monetary status quo, leaving its rates unchanged between 5.25 and 5.5%. Operators also welcomed a much more flexible speech from Jerome Powell, the boss of the American monetary institution. According to the CME Group’s FedWatch tool, it is very likely that the Fed will still maintain its rate range on January 31 (91% probability), after the next monetary meeting, before probably proceeding on March 20. , at the following meeting, to a first relaxation bringing the rates between 5 and 5.25%…
Note also that Thomas Barkin of the Fed is speaking today. Inflation and the economy will determine the path to follow in terms of monetary policy, said the head of the Richmond Fed, quoted by Bloomberg. According to him, a soft landing of the economy is increasingly conceivable. However, it is not assured, especially as real estate and services could suffer from persistent inflation of 2%. In any case, Barkin is generally confident, judging that the Fed is making real progress on the inflation front, with the economy otherwise remaining healthy. It notes that six-month core personal consumption expenditure inflation is now “just below” the 2% target. However, the leader indicates that potential further rate increases have not yet been ruled out and that it is too early to make a forecast regarding the monetary decision in March…
Tomorrow Thursday, investors will follow the ADP report on American private employment, the Challenger study relating to layoff announcements, weekly unemployment claims, the final American composite Markit PMI index (and therefore that of services), as well as the weekly report relating to US domestic oil stocks. On Friday, the monthly government report on the employment situation, American industrial orders as well as the ISM for services will attract attention.
On the Nymex, a barrel of WTI crude rebounded 3.1% to nearly $72.6. An ounce of gold dropped 1.5% to $2,042. The dollar index advances 0.3% against a basket of reference currencies. On the bond markets, the yield on the 2-year T-Bond increased to 4.37%, compared to 4% on the 10-year bond and 4.14% on the 30-year bond.
Values
Apple (-1%) is still losing a little ground on Wall Street this Wednesday, after falling 3.6% yesterday, representing a loss in market capitalization of… more than 100 billion dollars on a downgrade of Barclays. DA Davidson is also cautious on Apple stock, starting monitoring at ‘neutral’ with a target price of $166. “Unless Apple breaks its innovation rut, it will be very difficult for this company to accelerate its growth on the innovation side,” DA Davidson said on Yahoo! Finance, about the Californian giant from Cupertino.
Nvidia (-1.5%). The intermediary is no longer interested in the 2023 stock market star Nvidia, giant of graphics and AI chips, since it initiates a ‘neutral’ recommendation and targets $410, a potential drop of 15%.
The broker is interested in Amazon (+0.3%), online commerce giant, initiating from market sources a purchase recommendation with a target of $195 offering a nice potential of around 30% on current prices.
You’re here (-4%) sold 94,139 electric vehicles manufactured in China in December, an increase of 69% compared to the previous year, according to data revealed this Wednesday by the China Passenger Car Association and relayed in particular by Reuters. Deliveries of Model 3 and Model Y made in China increased 14% compared to November. This brings sales of Tesla vehicles manufactured in China, including exports, to 947,742 units for the whole year – or 52% of global deliveries from Elon Musk’s group. The Tesla factory in Shanghai is able to produce 1.1 million Model 3 and Model Y units per year, and supplies China, Australia and even Europe.
Chinese competitor BYD, with its Dynasty and Ocean vehicles, delivered 341,043 vehicles in December, representing growth of 13% compared to November and a gain of 45% over one year. BYD had a record quarter with sales of 944,779 new energy vehicles in the fourth quarter, including 526,409 pure EVs, Reuters said based on CPCA data.
In the fourth quarter, Elon Musk’s group produced a total of around 495,000 vehicles and delivered more than 484,000 units. In 2023, vehicle deliveries increased 38% year-on-year to 1.81 million, while production increased 35% to 1.85 million units.
Intel (-1.7%) announced plans to form an independent company in which the processor giant would house its software efforts around artificial intelligence, with the support of asset manager DigitalBridge Group and other investors. The entity would have its own board of directors and Intel would remain a shareholder. The new company would not be listed and would be called Articul8 AI. Arun Subramaniyan, former vice president and director of Intel’s data center and AI business, will become chief executive officer of Articul8.
MicroStrategy fell by 8% on Wall Street, after an increase of 8.5% last night and a jump of more than 370% over one year. The group’s boss, Michael Saylor, will sell nearly $216 million worth of shares according to Bloomberg. MicroStrategy is the main listed holder of Bitcoin. Saylor, its co-founder, acquired 315,000 shares through stock options. A spokesperson for the group cited by Bloomberg indicates that the company had previously mentioned its manager’s plan to sell up to 400,000 shares over the period from January 2 to April 26. The stock is currently trading at its highest level since December 2021, with MicroStrategy benefiting from the rebound in digital currencies. The software group recently increased its position in Bitcoin to more than $8 billion.
Bitcoin, however, fell by 6% over 24 hours, back to $42,000 after reaching a 21-month high of $45,000. For its part, ETH lost 6%, XRP 9% and Dogecoin 10%. Litecoin drops 11%… The main cryptocurrencies are therefore drinking in the cup, while operators fear a rejection of spot Bitcoin ETFs by the American financial markets authority, the Securities & Exchange Commission. A report from crypto financial services platform Matrixport supports this theory, ruling that the SEC should therefore refuse to approve such ETFs in January. A potential final approval would not come before the second quarter… Coinbase stumbles by 4% on Wall Street and Robinhood yields 5%.