(CercleFinance.com) – The New York Stock Exchange fell further into the red on Wednesday following the publication of an ISM manufacturing index higher than expected, not necessarily seeming to point in the direction of future rate cuts.
Half an hour before the opening, the Dow Jones fell 0.7% to 37,426 points, while the Nasdaq Composite dropped 0.9% to 14,632.2 points.
Investors were somewhat cooled by this morning’s announcement of a slowdown in the contraction of the US manufacturing sector in December, according to the Institute for Supply Management (ISM).
Its activity index thus rose to 47.4, compared to 46.7 for the month of November, knowing that the threshold of 50 separates expansion and contraction of activity.
This slightly better indicator than expected, which does not reveal major pressures in the manufacturing industry, does not seem, a priori, to support the scenario of a reduction in key rates in two months.
The rise in long-term US bond yields, particularly the ten-year bond which is back in touch with 4%, also shows that investors continue to question the evolution of monetary policy.
The downward trend is also fueled by the decline recorded by the real estate, basic materials and non-essential consumption sectors after their surge at the end of 2023.
Against the trend, we find stocks linked to energy, against a backdrop of recovery in oil prices (+3% to 72.6 dollars) due to tensions in the Bab El-Mandeb Strait, a strategic crossing point. which represents 21% of global container traffic.
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