(New York, Toronto) The New York Stock Exchange continued its advance on Tuesday allowing all three Wall Street indices to set new records, driven by strong corporate results and ahead of a Fed meeting that should come as no surprise .
According to final results, the index of flagship stocks Dow Jones ended up 0.39% to 36,052.63 points. New highs also – the third in a row – for the high-tech NASDAQ at 15,649.60 points (+ 0.34%) and the S&P 500 at 4,630.65 points (+ 0.37%).
The Toronto Stock Exchange closed lower on Tuesday, dragged down by losses in the commodities and health care sectors. The securities of the finance group, for their part, benefited from signals suggesting an imminent end of the moratorium on dividend increases and share buybacks.
Toronto’s S & P / TSX Composite Index fell 77.00 points to end the session with 21,170.01 points.
In the currency market, the Canadian dollar traded at an average rate of 80.62 cents US, down from 80.85 cents US the previous day.
On the New York Commodity Exchange, crude oil fell 14 cents US to US $ 83.91 per barrel, while natural gas rose 35.6 US cents to US $ 5.64 per million of BTU.
The price of gold fell from US $ 6.40 to US $ 1,789.40 an ounce and that of copper depreciated by less than 2.75 US cents to end near US $ 4.37 per pound .
Waiting for the Fed
Investors will see it more clearly on the monetary front when the Fed renders its decision on Wednesday on the organization of the reduction in asset purchases, taken for granted.
The US Federal Reserve is expected to announce the reduction in support it has provided to markets since the start of the pandemic as inflation looks to be more persistent than expected. Objective: to reduce the envelope of 120 billion dollars per month currently injected into the financial system, to zero by the middle of 2022.
The Fed will issue a press release at 2 p.m. Wednesday, followed by its chairman Jerome Powell to hold a press conference.
But for Gregori Volokhine, fund manager at Meeschaert Financial Services, “there are other phenomena than the Fed meeting which is so pre-announced and which should not create any surprises”.
The expert pointed to the surges in the securities of Avis car rental companies (+ 108.31% to 357.17 dollars) and to a lesser extent Hertz (+ 50% in session before concluding up 2.66%) .
“This is reminiscent of the episode of viral actions like Gamestop” which had raised the enthusiasm of small carriers in January, he said.
“This means that the risk appetite is not diminishing in the market. It’s astonishing because we are breaking records every day, we should become a little more careful, but the appetite for risk remains high, ”commented Mr. Volokhine.
He saw further evidence of market confidence in the weakness of the VIX index, known as the “fear index” which measures the risks of market volatility.
Notice with a bang
The American car rental company Avis has therefore made sparks after impressive results reflecting the renaissance of car rental companies with the standardization of travel and the rise in vehicle rental prices. The quotation of the title which took up to 500% during the session was interrupted several times.
Avis Budget Group was celebrated by investors after announcing on Tuesday a doubling of its year-over-year revenue in the third quarter to $ 3 billion, well above expectations.
The title redoubled interest when the company indicated that it would be “more active” in electric vehicles while Tesla and rental company Hertz are in the limelight on the subject.
The announcement of this order also jumped the action of the electric car maker to historic highs for several days, to the point that Elon Musk recalled in a tweet Tuesday that the contract with Hertz had not yet been signed.
Suddenly, the title of Tesla deflated Tuesday, ending down 3.03% to 1,171.97 dollars.
UnderArmour sports and comfort clothing climbed 13.9% to $ 21.68 on sales up 25%.
Pfizer gained 4.15% to $ 4.45 after upgrading its annual sales forecast for its COVID-19 vaccine on Tuesday, boosted by recommendations for a third dose in some countries and expected approvals for the children.
California education platform Chegg has plunged into hell with a drop of 48.82% to $ 32.12 as the education industry slows sharply, the company boss said. registrations for its services have slowed.
In the bond market, rates on 10-year bills eased to 1.54%. Another sign of the strength of risk appetite, bitcoin was on the rise again (+ 3.97% to 63,133 dollars).