(New York) The New York Stock Exchange ended in dispersed order on Wednesday, slightly cooled, after the strong rebound of the day before, by the remarks of the boss of the American central bank who does not exclude two future rate hikes in the coming month.
The Dow Jones index lost 0.22% to 33,852.66 points and the S&P 500 remained almost flat at 4376.86 points (-0.04%) while the NASDAQ advanced 0.27% to 13 591.75 points.
Investors were moderately affected by statements by Jerome Powell, Chairman of the Federal Reserve, the US central bank (Fed).
At a conference of central bankers in Sintra, Portugal, Mr Powell said the economic situation was “far from a return to normal”.
“We believe that there will still be a tightening” of monetary policy, to curb inflation, underlined the chairman of the Fed. “I do not rule out the possibility of an increase in two successive meetings,” he added.
“He basically repeated what he had already said,” said LBBW’s Karl Haeling. “I think the market was rather taking a break,” after Tuesday’s sharp rise, “because it’s the end of the quarter and there has been a rebalancing of the portfolios,” explained the analyst.
On the bond market, ten-year rates fell to 3.71% against 3.76% the day before.
We are also approaching the long weekend of the July 4 national holiday and the exchanges are lessening.
Some tech stocks took the hit after reports from the wall street journal indicating that the Biden administration plans to limit exports to China of chips dedicated to artificial intelligence (AI).
Asked by AFP, the Commerce Department has not commented yet.
But the stock of Nvidia, the specialist in super-powerful microprocessors researched by AI, nosedived, losing 1.81% to $411.17. The group derives some 20% of its revenue from China, noted Edward Moya analyst for Oanda.
The big banks were down slightly as they waited for the Fed, which regulates the banking sector, to release the results of the stress tests just after the market close. Bank of America concluded down 0.58%, Citigroup 0.34% and Wells Fargo 0.71%.
The main American banks have sufficient liquidity to withstand a “severe recession” while being able to continue to grant loans, the Fed estimated after tests which concerned 23 large banks.
Elsewhere on the stock exchange, Netflix had the wind in its sails (+3.06%) while Disney lost 0.26%.
The food group General Mills, which sells the Cheerios, Lucky Charm and Häagen-Dazs brands, fell 5.17% after mixed results in the fourth quarter. While profits have increased thanks to inflation, this price increase has increased sales volume and production costs.
Meal delivery company DoorDash climbed 2.31% to $76.49 after reforming its delivery system.
The action of the space tourism firm Virgin Galatic benefited (+9.22%) from the prospect of a manned launch on Thursday, its first commercial flight sponsored by the Italian Air Force.
The Californian start-up Joby Aviation, which wants to develop an all-electric flying service, soared 40.22%. The company has announced the appointment of a Toyota executive, Tetsuo Ogawa, boss of the Japanese automaker in North America, to its board of directors.
Toronto Stock Exchange
The Toronto Stock Exchange ended Wednesday’s session higher, with gains in the energy and information technology sectors notably offsetting weakness in the base metals group, while the major U.S. indices ended the day in scattered order.
The Toronto floor’s S&P/TSX Composite Index climbed 85.76 points to 19,818.85 points.
In New York, the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 74.08 points to 33,852.66 points, while the broader S&P 500 index lost 1.55 points to 4376.86 points. The NASDAQ composite index appreciated for its part by 36.08 points to 13,591.75 points.
In the currency market, the Canadian dollar traded at an average rate of 75.45 cents US, down from 75.90 cents US on Tuesday.
On the New York Commodities Exchange, crude oil prices climbed US$1.86 to US$69.56 a barrel, while natural gas fell 12 cents US to US$2.67 a barrel. million BTUs.
The price of gold returned US$1.60 to US$1922.20 an ounce and that of copper depreciated 5 cents US to US$3.74 a pound.
The Canadian Press