PARIS (Reuters) – The New York Stock Exchange opened in the green on Wednesday after the publication of the ADP employment report for the month of February and the latest statements from Jerome Powell, which confirms an interest rate hike this month here in the United States despite the Ukrainian crisis.
In early trading, the Dow Jones index gained 210.45 points, or 0.63%, to 33,505.4 points and the broader Standard & Poor’s 500 rose 0.52% to 4,328.85 points.
The Nasdaq Composite took 0.2%, or 27.07 points, to 13,559.535.
In a statement prepared for his hearing at 3:00 p.m. GMT by the House Financial Services Committee, Fed Chairman Jerome Powell said the U.S. central bank will stick to its plan to raise interest rates. rate this month to counter inflation even though the war in Ukraine makes the outlook for policymakers “very uncertain”.
Jerome Powell, however, gave no indication of the magnitude and speed of the rise in the cost of credit.
“The market is currently facing two critical tests: one is the Federal Reserve and how it is going to fight inflation and the other is (the) war in Eastern Europe, and when you think about these two things, they’re interdependent,” said Art Hogan, market strategist at National Securities.
“The consensus now is towards a moderately more accommodative scenario versus a more restrictive bias and Powell’s comments for the time being are along those lines,” he added.
Before Jerome Powell’s statements, the monthly survey by ADP firm showed that the private sector in the United States had created more jobs than expected in February, ie 475,000 last month against 388,000 forecast by the Reuters consensus.
In values, the major Wall Street banks are rebounding after two consecutive sessions of sharp decline, like Morgan Stanley, which gained 1.1%, while the banking sector index advanced by 1.04%.
As for publications of financial accounts, the results or forecasts of Hewlett Packard Enterprise (+6.7%) and Salesforce.com (+2%) are well received.
Ford Motor advances by 4% after the announcement by the automaker of a split of its electric vehicle and heat engine activities in the face of competition from Tesla (+ 1.2%).
(Written by Claude Chendjou, edited by Jean-Michel Bélot)
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