PARIS (Reuters) – The New York Stock Exchange opened higher on Thursday, with investors remaining optimistic about an upcoming cut in central bank key rates despite mixed indicators of the day in the United States such as producer prices and sales by retail.
In early trading, the Dow Jones index gained 54.74 points, or 0.14%, to 39,098.06 points and the broader Standard & Poor’s 500 rose 0.13% to 5,172.23 points.
The Nasdaq Composite takes 0.23%, or 37.63 points, to 16,215.405.
An hour before the opening of Wall Street, the Labor Department indicated that producer prices (PPI) in the United States had increased year-on-year in February at a faster pace than expected, by 0.6% over one month and 1.6% over one year.
On the economic side, retail sales in the United States showed a less marked rebound than expected in February from one month to the next, of 0.6%, after a contraction of 1.1% in January.
Unemployment registrations decreased last week, to 209,000 compared to 210,000 the previous week.
“Retail sales were slightly weaker, which dampens the PPI number,” comments Andre Bakhos, manager at Ingenium Analytics, adding that the PPI reinforces the prospect of a rate cut by the US Federal Reserve.
In terms of values, semiconductors continue to suffer from profit taking: Intel and Micron Technology lost 0.47% and 1.55% respectively, while Nvidia lost 1.24%.
Robinhood Markets climbs 6.8% as the trading app operator announced its assets under custody increased 16% in February.
Cryptoasset groups are in demand as bitcoin hit a new all-time high at $73,803.25.
Citigroup (+0.8%) is in the green after Goldman Sachs’ advice was raised to “buy”.
Dollar General takes 2.66%, the low-cost distribution group having said it expects sales in 2024 to be higher than expectations.
(Writing by Claude Chendjou, edited by Kate Entringer)
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