(New York) The New York Stock Exchange closed directionless on Monday, devoid of a catalyst, awaiting news this week of inflation in the United States, while a resurgence of viral stock volatility of the type GameStop moderated the session.
The Dow Jones lost 0.21% to 39,431.51 points, interrupting eight positive sessions in a row. The NASDAQ, with a strong technological coloring, advanced 0.29% to 16,388.24 points and the S&P 500 stagnated (-0.02%) at 5221.42 points.
“The release of the price index on Wednesday is more important than anything that happened today,” said Art Hogan of B. Riley Wealth Management.
According to him, if the CPI index comes out in line or a little below expectations, “the market will celebrate that”. “But if the price rise is hotter than expected, the market will experience the type of downward pressure that occurred in April,” the analyst predicted.
In the meantime, “it is normal to end up without direction when you are without a catalyst,” summarized Mr. Hogan when interviewed by AFP.
Briefing.com forecasts a price increase of 0.3% compared to +0.4% in March in the United States.
“This is going to be an important week that will determine whether the S&P 500 and NASDAQ will be relaunched to new highs or retreat,” said Patrick O’Hare of Briefing.
Investors will also be watching the performance of retail sales for April that day, a good way to assess the health of the consumer, the engine of the American economy.
These two major data can weigh on the direction of monetary policy. Markets are hoping to see both a slowdown in price increases and a soft landing in consumption, which would solidify the prospect of a rate cut from the Federal Reserve (Fed).
The highlights of the session came from the resurgence of the intense volatility of viral stocks, in particular GameStop, the video game store title which shook up Wall Street at the start of 2021, driven by a multitude of online investors.
GameStop gained 74.52% to $30.47 encouraged by the reappearance on social networks – for the first time in three years – of one of the stock marketers at the origin of the speculative frenzy around GameStop in 2021.
Bearing the nickname “Roaring Kitty”, published on economic yet uncertain.
“We are witnessing the shadow of a rebound” in GameStop, “a distraction,” further assures Art Hogan who does not believe that the surge will last very long.
Other so-called “meme” or viral stocks such as AMC cinemas (+79.73% to $5.23) also benefited from the current.
Reddit, the forum platform on which online investors communicate to counter funds that bet on their favorite stocks, had a good day (+8.78% to $58.23).
The results season is also coming to an end but some retail giants will still announce theirs this week. This is the case on Tuesday of the DIY specialist Home Depot (-1.57%), the Chinese giant also listed on Wall Street Alibaba (+5.68%) as well as, Thursday, Walmart (-0.12%).
While waiting for the quarterly accounts of these mega-retailers, other big names in the sector declined such as Target (-1.39%), Costco (-1.53%) or Dollar General (-2.14%).
Semiconductor specialist Arm Holding soared 7.71% to $117.23. Champion of microprocessor architectures, the British subsidiary of the Japanese group Softbank must launch a division specializing in the manufacturing of chips for AI, with a prototype planned by spring 2025, according to information from the Japanese economic daily Nikkei published this week -end.
On the bond market, ten-year rates remained stable at 4.48% compared to 4.49% on Friday.