(New York) The New York Stock Exchange closed in the green on Thursday, relieved after the announcement of US inflation generally in line with expectations in January, which allowed the technology-dominated NASDAQ to reach a new record .
Driven for several months by the stock market enthusiasm around artificial intelligence, the NASDAQ finally exceeded its last peak dating from November 2021 by climbing 0.90% to 16,091.92 points.
The broader S&P 500 index advanced 0.52% to 5,096.27 points and the Dow Jones gained 0.12% to 38,996.39 points.
The publication of the PCE inflation index in the United States, the Federal Reserve’s (Fed) favorite barometer for setting its monetary policy, was at the center of interest on Thursday.
Fearing bad news, stock indices were preparing to open lower before the release of data from the Commerce Department.
The PCE index advanced 0.3% over the month in January compared to +0.1% the month before, but a little less than expected by the MarketWatch consensus.
Over one year, inflation continued to slow to 2.4% compared to 2.6% a month earlier.
“We entered the session worried about the content of the PCE, which is understandable after the figures for the CPI inflation index which had been surprisingly high,” explained Steve Sosnick of Interactive Brokers.
“Brokers were a little nervous about this happening again,” he added.
But ultimately, as annual inflation continues its path toward the 2% target, “we ended up having a bull session of relief.”
“We were prepared for the worst, but we obtained what we expected and that will not change anything in the attitude of the Fed,” concluded the analyst.
For Michael Pearce of OxfordEconomics, “with this downward trend in inflation, a gradual decline in interest rates is still on the table this year” for the American central bank.
In the bond market, yields on ten-year Treasury bills remained stable at 4.26%.
A first rate cut from the Fed is now expected for the June monetary meeting, by only a narrow majority, according to the CME Fedwatch tool, whereas until a few weeks ago, investors believed in a relaxation of monetary policy from next month.
On the value side, AMD shares, one of the heavyweights in microprocessors, soared by more than 9% while demand is on the rise for these components.
The leader in customer management software Salesforce gained 3.02% after quarterly results in line with forecasts and the distribution, for the first time, of a dividend.
Snowflake shares, on the other hand, fell more than 18%. The cloud storage specialist certainly posted very good quarterly results, but its projections are not as optimistic as those of the market.
The group expects to post 22% sales growth in 2024, but analysts expected an expansion of 30%.
The big names in technology also gave momentum to the NASDAQ, such as Amazon (+2.08%), Meta (+1.26%) or Alphabet (+1.71%).
Electronics and household appliances chain Best Buy advanced 1.51% as its fourth quarter sales slowed less than expected and the current year will at least show stabilization, according to management.
The group also announced an upcoming “restructuring initiative”, which should result in workforce reductions, a measure often welcomed by stock market investors.
WeightWatchers International shares fell 18% to $3.12 per share as the company announced that its flagship shareholder, the personality Oprah Winfrey, was leaving its board of directors, having admitted to now using new anti-inflammatory drugs. weight gain and obesity.
The Toronto Stock Exchange is up sharply
Canada’s main stock index rose more than 100 points on Thursday, helped by gains in energy stocks, while U.S. stock markets also climbed.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index rose 119.84 points to 21,363.61.
The Canadian dollar traded at 73.69 US cents, compared to 73.67 US cents on Wednesday.
The Canadian Press