(New York) The New York Stock Exchange concluded in scattered order on Friday, after the first results of companies, and at the end of an enthusiastic week carried by the decline in US inflation.
The Dow Jones index gained 0.33% to 34,509.03 points, the tech-heavy NASDAQ fell 0.18% to 14,113.70 points and the broader S&P 500 index fell 0.10 % at 4505.42 points.
Over the week, boosted by the good news on inflation which has slowed in the United States, the indices gained more than 2% for the Dow Jones and the S&P 500 and more than 3% for the NASDAQ.
“We are witnessing profit taking after the sharp rise” of the week “and it is perfectly normal, even healthy,” said Adam Sarhan, of 50 Park Investment, interviewed by AFP.
“It’s not a big step backwards and that in itself means the market remains bullish,” the analyst said.
A flurry of U.S. inflation data for June released this week—from the consumer price index to producer and import prices—showed that price growth has markedly stalled, as if the US central bank was beginning to win its fight against inflation. This is 3% over one year, according to the CPI index.
Favorable developments in inflation “are not enough to prevent Federal Reserve (Fed) officials from raising rates later this month, but it confirms our forecast that this July hike could be the last,” analysts at Oxford Economics said on Friday.
But nothing is less certain and “investors don’t know what the Fed is going to do”, underlined Adam Sarhan for his part.
A governor of the Fed, Christopher Waller said again Thursday that he advocated for his part two new interest rate hikes.
“The market is therefore in a waiting mode, especially with the results of companies which are starting,” explained Mr. Sarhan.
The big US banks kicked off the quarterly earnings season on Friday with a cautious outlook for the coming months, despite strong second-quarter performances.
JPMorgan Chase (+0.64%), the largest American bank by asset size, and Wells Fargo (-0.30%) unveiled a surge in their results compared to the same period of 2022.
JPMorgan posted a net profit up 67% over one year thanks to the takeover of First Republic (+40% excluding this acquisition).
For Citigroup (-4.00%), the quarter was less lenient with a fall in its net profit (-36%).
Eli Lilly laboratories were sought (+3.46%) after announcing the acquisition of Versanis, an unlisted group specializing in drugs against obesity, for 1.925 billion dollars.
On the bond market, rates rose to 3.82% for ten-year Treasury bills against 3.76% the day before.
The Toronto Stock Exchange closes lower
The Toronto Stock Exchange closed lower on Friday, dragged down by losses in its energy sector, while the major US indices ended the session in scattered order.
The Toronto floor’s S&P/TSX Composite Index dropped 15.57 points to close the day at 20,262.07 points.
In the currency market, the Canadian dollar traded at an average rate of 75.86 cents US, down from 76.17 cents US on Thursday.
On the New York Commodities Exchange, crude oil prices fell US$1.47 to US$75.42 a barrel, while natural gas fell 1 cent US to US$2.54 a million. of BTUs.
The price of gold rose 60 cents US to US$1,964.40 an ounce and that of copper fell less than 1 cent US to US$3.93 a pound.
The Canadian Press