PARIS (Reuters) – The New York Stock Exchange opened lower on Thursday, as rising bond yields put downward pressure on growth stocks as concerns over inflation and the path of interest rates cut all risk appetite.
About fifteen minutes after the first exchanges, the Dow Jones index lost 140.79 points, or 0.43%, to 32,770.11 points and the wider Standard & Poor’s 500 fell 0.59% to 4,091, 38 dots.
The Nasdaq Composite lost 0.81%, or 98.121 points, to 11,988.15.
The yield on ten-year US Treasury bills, up more than three basis points to 3.0622%, is the highest since May 11.
Markets anticipate an acceleration of inflation in the coming months given the recent surge in oil prices, with Brent at $123 a barrel.
The monthly consumer price statistics in the United States will be published on Friday and a rise of 0.7% in the CPI index is forecast for May in the Reuters consensus after a gain of 0.3% in April.
To stem this inflation, which is moving above 8% on an annual basis, investors fear a sharp acceleration in monetary tightening by the US Federal Reserve, which meets on June 14 and 15. Rate hikes of half a point are expected this month and July, while hopes of a break in September are seen as dim.
“We are not going to see a real market recovery until there is a feeling that inflationary pressures are easing,” predicted Quincy Krosby, equity strategist at LPL Financial.
In values, the technology giants, sensitive to changes in rates, are retreating. Microsoft, Nvidia, Alphabet, Meta Platforms and Netflix lost 0.2% to 2.3%.
Tesla (+2%) is resisting the downtrend thanks to the rise in May of its sales of cars produced in China and the raising of UBS’s recommendation to “buy” on the stock.
The title Alibaba gives up 2.6 despite the provisional green light from the Chinese authorities to relaunch the IPO project of Ant Group, the group’s subsidiary specializing in payments, according to press reports.
Novavax fell 3.4% as the US health authority is set to delay its opinion on the laboratory’s COVID-19 vaccine, according to CNBC.
(Written by Claude Chendjou, edited by Sophie Louet)
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