(New York) The New York Stock Exchange closed in the red on Tuesday, marking the end of a euphoric streak, due to a lack of figures or news likely to extend it.
The Dow Jones lost 0.15%, the NASDAQ index dropped 0.33% and the broader S&P 500 index fell 0.20%.
NASDAQ and S&P 500 will have recorded eight consecutive gains before surrendering, their best streak of the year.
“It’s been a volatile two weeks, with a big rebound after the selloff,” said Sam Burns of Mill Street Research. The NASDAQ is up more than 10% overall, after plunging 8% in early August.
“Usually, after such a sequence, it is typical to go through a calmer day, of consolidation, like today,” he added.
In addition to the need to catch their breath, traders also reacted to the prospect of a likely significant downward revision to the number of U.S. jobs created in the first quarter in a report due Wednesday, according to Marc Chandler of Bannockburn Global Forex.
The NASDAQ was more turbulent than the other major indices, influenced, once again, by the microprocessor sector, which has regularly been the driving force in the new economy in recent months.
The giant Nvidia was targeted (-2.12%), as were Broadcom (-1.05%), Qualcomm (-1.23%) and Intel (-2.46%). The latter, also a resident of the Dow Jones, weighed on the historical index, but not as much as Boeing (-4.20%), caught in yet another zone of turbulence.
The American aircraft manufacturer has decided to ground its fleet of 777X wide-body jets, which are undergoing testing, until further notice. It has detected a weakness in a part connecting the engine to the aircraft.
Separately, the U.S. Civil Aviation Administration has ordered the group to conduct inspections of pilot seats on hundreds of 787s.
Even a sharp easing of bond yields was not enough to revive a stock market that was gasping for air. The yield on 10-year US government bonds fell to 3.81%, from 3.87% at the close on Monday.
Despite the decline on Tuesday, Sam Burns sees the New York market soon surpassing the historic peaks recorded in July.
“So far, the central scenario remains ideal, with the economy still in good health and inflation falling significantly,” the analyst emphasizes, which lays the foundations for future rate cuts for the American Federal Reserve (Fed).
The Mooresville, North Carolina, company cited lower retail sales and “a pressured economic environment.”
Cybersecurity group Palo Alto Networks (+7.18%) rode better than expected results.
Paramount Global (-1.17%) reacted badly to a report in the Wall Street Journal according to which businessman Edgar Bronfman Jr. submitted a merger offer to the media group that competes with that of Skydance.
The heir to Canadian spirits group Seagram is offering a valuation similar to that detailed by Skydance, without massively diluting Paramount’s existing shareholders.
The TSX slides
Canada’s main stock index declined Tuesday after the latest inflation report showed a slowdown in price growth.
The S&P/TSX composite index closed down 78.95 points at 23,037.44.
The Canadian dollar was trading at 73.38 US cents compared to 73.25 US cents on Monday.
On the New York Commodity Exchange, crude oil fell 49 cents to $73.17 per barrel, and natural gas fell four cents to $2.20 per million BTU.
Gold prices rose $9.30 to $2,550.60 an ounce and copper prices fell two cents to $4.16 a pound.
Associated Press