Wall Street, New York (AFP/ANGELA WEISS)
The New York Stock Exchange opened modestly higher on Monday, cautious after news of weaker-than-expected growth in China, and on the eve of a busy week in corporate earnings.
Around 1:50 p.m. GMT, the Dow Jones index gleaned 0.06%, the Nasdaq advanced 0.28% and the broader S&P 500 index nibbled 0.07%.
On Friday, the Dow Jones index was up 0.33%, the tech-heavy Nasdaq was down 0.18% and the broader S&P 500 index was down 0.10%, capping a very positive week. .
Weekly gains were 2.3% for the Dow Jones, 2.4% for the S&P 500 and 3.3% for the Nasdaq.
The session began with the publication of a lackluster manufacturing activity index for the New York region (Empire State).
Business continued to grow very slightly in July, better than expected, but down sharply from the rate of June.
“The weakening of investment projects is disappointing but not necessarily decisive,” commented Kieran Clancy, economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics.
Outside the borders of the United States, it is Chinese growth that has disappointed.
“China’s GDP growth slowed to +0.8% in the quarter, resulting in annual growth of 6.4%. This looks more impressive than it is, as GDP grew on the back of rebound from its decline imposed by the confinements due to Covid-19”, commented Chris Low, chief economist of FHN Financial.
But according to Briefing.com analyst Patrick O’Hare, China’s growth is “just an excuse for the lack of buying interest on the New York Stock Exchange.”
“Investors want to see what happens with stock prices this week” between hopes of a soft landing for the US economy and expectations of corporate earnings, he said.
From Tuesday are expected the results of Bank of America (+0.72% at 1:45 p.m. GMT) and Goldman Sachs (-0.14%), after the good figures of JPMorgan (+0.79%) and Wells Fargo (+0.65%) announced last week.
The car manufacturer Tesla (+3%) is due to announce its own on Wednesday, as are the airline United Airlines (+1.07%) and the streaming leader Netflix (+2.52%).
Among the important indicators expected, retail sales in June in the United States should give an indication on Tuesday (at 12:30 GMT) of the health of the consumer, which is the engine of American growth.
In the bond market, yields on ten-year Treasury bills were stable at 3.82% versus 3.83%. Those at two years stood at 4.75% against 4.76%.
This week before the monetary meeting of the American central bank (Fed), scheduled for July 25 and 26, the members of the Monetary Committee of the Fed must refrain from commenting.
Another quarter-percentage-point rate hike is 96% expected by investors, despite the pause in hikes seen by the Fed in June, according to calculations on futures products from CME Group. This should bring overnight rates to a range of 5.25% to 5.50%.
© 2023 AFP
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