(New York) The New York Stock Exchange indices ended in the red on Friday, shaken by a rise in bond rates following a new sign of stubborn inflation in the United States.
The Dow Jones lost 0.37% to 38,627.99 points, the technology-dominated NASDAQ lost 0.82% to 15,775.65 points and the S&P 500, which had reached a record the day before, fell. by 0.48% to 5005.57 points.
Shortly before the opening of the session, the US Department of Labor published a wholesale price index which surprised by its strength.
These producer prices rebounded more than expected in January, increasing by 0.3% over one month, after falling by 0.1% in December. Analysts expected a more modest increase of 0.1%.
“For the central bank, this is a little worrying, but Fed officials should not focus on a monthly figure,” commented Rubeela Farooqi, economist for HFE, assuring that they “will remain patient […] before deciding on future monetary policy.
The reaction was strong, however, on the bond market where two-year and ten-year rates rose significantly, the tenacity of inflation raising fears that the cost of credit set by the Fed would remain high for much longer.
Yields on ten-year Treasury bills rose to 4.30% from 4.23% the day before. By 3:30 p.m. EST, they had eased to 4.28%.
“Treasury yields are being driven higher in response to diminishing expectations of Fed rate cuts,” commented John Canavan of Oxford Economics.
“After a calm start to the week, yields jumped on Tuesday after an unexpected rise in CPI inflation,” explained the analyst, recalling that the liquidation of the stock market that day was then reversed in the middle of the week. “However, inflationary concerns continue to dampen hopes of a Fed rate cut,” he added.
A central bank official, Mary Daly of the San Francisco branch, said Friday that the Fed must “resist the temptation to act quickly when patience is necessary.”
Other economic data showed mixed activity. The housing market, undermined by high interest rates on property loans, showed a new sign of weakness.
Housing starts fell almost 15% in January, their lowest level since August. At the same time, consumer confidence increased further in February, with American households showing optimism that inflation will continue to fall, according to the preliminary estimate from the University of Michigan.
On the value side, the cryptocurrency exchange platform Coinbase soared 8.84% to $180.31 after announcing profits the day before after closing that were well above forecasts.
Thanks in particular to a rise in bitcoin, its quarterly turnover rose to 954 million dollars against 826 million forecast by analysts.
The action of the semiconductor group Applied Materials was sought after (+6.35% to 199.57 dollars) after results and above all business prospects better than expected.
The advertising company in streaming Trade Desk saw its shares jump 17.46% to $88.93 after strong sales growth in the last quarter (+23%) and a positive outlook.
Shares of server and storage solutions maker Super Micro Computer (SMCI) fell 19.99% to $803.22 after a moderate analyst note. They had increased by more than 200% this year, thanks to the attraction of the potential growth of its high-end servers useful for artificial intelligence.
The service of streaming Roku lost 23.81% to $72 despite results exceeding expectations with 80 million subscribers. But the group published forecasts lower than analysts’ expectations in an increasingly competitive context for the sector.
Toronto up around thirty points
The Toronto Stock Exchange closed slightly higher on Friday, helped by gains in the base metals and telecommunications sectors, while US markets ended the day lower.
The S&P/TSX composite index on the Toronto floor gained 32.92 points, to 21,255.61 points.
On the currency market, the Canadian dollar traded at 74.16 US cents, compared to its average price of 74.11 US cents on Thursday.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, the price of crude oil rose 87 US cents to US$78.46 per barrel. That of natural gas increased by 3 US cents to US$1.61 per million BTU.
Gold prices jumped US$9.20 to US$2,024.10 an ounce and copper prices added 8 US cents to US$3.84 a pound.
The Canadian Press