New York (awp / dpa) – The US stock market took a break on Tuesday as European markets were bullish, in a thin market that heightens volatility, in the absence of many investors due to the holiday season. ‘year.
Wall Street ended in scattered order after two consecutive records, the Dow Jones gaining 0.26% and the Nasdaq, with strong technological coloring, dropping 0.56%. The S&P 500 fell 0.10%.
For its part, Europe finished in the green: + 0.81% for the Dax in Frankfurt and + 0.78% for the FTSE MIB in Milan. In Paris, the CAC 40 took 0.57%, which allowed it to beat its record at the close, at 7,181.11 points. In Zurich, the SMI gained 0.81% and also ended with a new closing record.
Like Monday, London was closed.
Most stock markets were “on the rise, driven by studies suggesting the Omicron variant is less severe than Delta and may have a lesser impact than feared on the US economy,” said Kenny Fisher, analyst at market at Oanda.
Faced with the explosion in the number of contaminations in the world, investors are sticking to the line repeated Monday by US President Joe Biden: the Omicron variant “should not be a source of panic”.
According to Maris Ogg of Tower Bridge Advisors, investors have indeed already “made their judgment on Omicron and believe its impact will not be significant on the economy.”
The measures put in place by governments to deal with the spread of this variant should be less painful than the lockdowns decreed at the start of the pandemic in 2020.
Investors thus welcomed with relief those announced by US health authorities on Monday evening, halving the recommended isolation period for infected Americans.
“The market is mainly driven by rather speculative positions,” commented Jochen Stanzl, for CMC Market.
Further rise in oil prices ___
After its strong gains the day before, oil continued to advance: the price of a barrel of US crude WTI for delivery in February gained 0.54% to 75.98 dollars and that of a barrel of North Sea Brent to the same. maturity 0.43% at 78.94 dollars.
Values linked to black gold rose in its wake, such as TotalEnergies (+ 0.67% to 45.26 euros), the oil services group CGG (+ 2.27% to 0.67 euros) or the manufacturer of tubes Vallourec (+ 2.01% to 8.90 euros). In Italy, Eni rose 0.89% to 12.40 euros.
The mining companies ArcelorMittal (+ 0.10% to 28.68 euros) and Aperam (+ 1.68% to 47.91 euros) have also been sought in Paris.
The hesitant automotive sector ___
In Japan, Toyota took 1.19% to 2,133 yen. The automobile industry boosted Japanese industrial production growth of 7.2% over one month in November, a strong sign of recovery.
Values in Europe followed by starting strong before settling down over the day, from Volkswagen (+ 0.52% to 179.34 euros) and BMW (+ 0.06% to 89.95 euros) in Germany to Stellantis (+ 0.17% to 16.83 euros) in Paris.
More broadly in transport, American airlines, which have been roughed up since the appearance of the Omicron variant, have gained ground like Delta Airlines (+ 1.62%) or American Airlines (+ 2.04%). Boeing gained 1.46% to $ 206.13.
Apple closely watched ___
In New York, the strong performance of the Nasdaq on Monday attracted profit-taking in the technology sector.
Apple fell 0.58% to $ 179.29, missing the moment investors watched when the iPhone maker will reach $ 3 trillion in capitalization, a first.
On the euro and bitcoin side ___
The greenback strengthened, especially against the euro which lost 0.25% at 7.45 p.m. GMT, to 1.1300 dollars per euro.
Bitcoin was down 6.46% to $ 47,694.
afp / rp