(New York) The New York Stock Exchange ended on a mixed note Thursday, penalized by profit-taking and portfolio adjustments ahead of a long holiday weekend in the United States.
The Dow Jones (+0.59%) nevertheless managed to set a new record at the close, while the NASDAQ index fell by 0.23% and the broader S&P 500 index closed flat.
The session had started clearly in the green, the day after the highly anticipated publication of the results of the undisputed champion of semiconductors, Nvidia.
The Santa Clara (California) group has largely exceeded analysts’ expectations and revealed forecasts also above those of the market.
But the New York market has nonetheless been picky. “Some have been a little disappointed by the margin between results and expectations,” which has been shrinking over the quarters, explained Sam Stovall.
The title of the standard-bearer of the generative artificial intelligence (AI) revolution was thus punished (-6.38%).
However, the rest of the market resumed its peak because “investors were relieved to see that Nvidia had not disappointed,” Stovall described.
During the first hours of trading, technology sector stocks even took the lead, before the New York Stock Exchange ran out of steam as the closing hours approached.
“Investors probably adjusted their positions before the long weekend,” Monday being a holiday in the United States, “because many will already be gone tomorrow” (Friday), Sam Stovall explained.
It was time for some profit-taking, mainly on technology stocks, with some reallocating the proceeds from their sales to neglected sectors or stocks.
This rotation movement, observed several times since the beginning of July, allowed the Dow Jones to reach a new historic high, the third of the week.
Among its members, Boeing (+0.91%), Honeywell (+1.23%), Caterpillar (+0.99%) and Goldman Sachs (+1.35%) particularly shone.
Apple escaped the rotation (+1.46%), helped by a Wall Street Journal report that the firm was considering an investment in OpenAI, the company that launched ChatGPT.
Bond rates, for their part, have tightened, following the upward revision of the growth figure in the United States for the second quarter, to 3% instead of 2.8% initially.
The yield on 10-year US government bonds rose to 3.86%, compared with 3.83% the previous day at the close.
The session was livened up by the accidental publication of results from the Gap clothing chain, which were not expected until after the bell.
Better than expected, they confirmed the recovery of the group under the leadership of the new CEO Richard Dickson, who arrived a year ago after a successful stint at Mattel.
Elsewhere in the market, operators did not hold it against the IT security group CrowdStrike for the downward revision of its objectives (+2.83%).
The company has thus taken into account the consequences of the incident of July 19, during which an update of one of its software caused a global computer outage.
Electronics chain Best Buy soared 14.11% after reporting better-than-expected results and raising its full-year guidance. CFO Matt Bilunas expects the sector to continue stabilizing in the second half.
Another representative of the retail trade, the lingerie brand Victoria’s Secret (-3.70%) also exceeded forecasts and raised its objectives, but its sales are down.
The picture was much bleaker for discount chain Dollar General (-32.15%), which missed the target in the previous quarter and lowered its guidance. Chief Executive Todd Vasos cited “a consumer who feels financially constrained.”
TSX up 100 points
Canada’s main stock index gained 100 points on Thursday, helped by strength in technology, financial and energy stocks.
The S&P/TSX composite index closed up 100.51 points at 23,227.49.
The Canadian dollar was trading at 74.22 US cents versus 74.23 US cents on Wednesday.
The Canadian Press