PARIS (Reuters) – The New York Stock Exchange opened on a mixed note on Friday awaiting comments from members of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve who could help clarify the trajectory of rates in the United States.
In early trading, the Dow Jones index was stable at 34,043.19 points and the broader Standard & Poor’s 500 rose 0.22% to 4,339.61 points. The Nasdaq Composite takes 0.49% or 64.56 points, to 13,287.434.
The Fed kept its rates unchanged on Wednesday, specifying that monetary policy would remain restrictive for longer than expected while having a limited impact on economic activity.
“Despite these very economically favorable projections from the members of the monetary policy committee, J. Powell, the president of the Fed made the paradoxical remark by emphasizing that his central scenario for the American economy was not necessarily that of a landing gently”, recalls Sebastian Paris Horvitz, director of research at LBPAM. Uncertainty remains on the markets, divided on the possibility of a new rate increase in November, and investors are therefore closely following the elements making it possible to determine the American economic trajectory.
Several members of the Fed’s board of governors are scheduled to speak on Friday, including the president of the Minneapolis Fed, Neel Kashkari, and the governor of the board, Lisa Cook.
On the value side, Activision Blizzard takes 1.88% and Microsoft 0.28% while the British competition authority declared that the remedy proposed by the Redmond group “opened the door” to a green light for the takeover project of the publisher of “Call of Duty”.
Ford gains nearly 4% while a source told Reuters that the United Auto Workers union would announce progress in discussions with the automaker, affected by a strike.
(Written by Corentin Chappron, edited by Blandine Hénault)
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