(New York) The New York Stock Exchange evolved divided Tuesday after the opening, being hesitant between a disappointing American real estate indicator and better results than expected in the large distribution.
Posted at 9:40 a.m.
Updated at 10:36 a.m.
Around 2 p.m. GMT, the Dow Jones index advanced by 0.12%, the NASDAQ yielded 0.58% and the S&P 500 index, the most representative of the American market, lost 0.16%.
Monday, while the indices had opened lower, the Dow Jones had finally gained 0.45%, to 33,912.44 points, the NASDAQ index, with strong technological coloring, had gained 0.62%, to 13,128, 05 points, and the broader S&P 500 index, 0.39%, at 4297.14 points.
“We have reached a point where we have probably reached several peaks: inflation, Fed hawkish sentiment and pessimism”, assured Art Hogan of B. Riley Wealth who saw “the prospect of more good news only bad ones”.
Investors, however, remained cautious at the start of the session, while the dollar, a safe haven, remained on the rise for the third session in a row.
The real estate sector disappointed again in July, with housing starts plunging more than expected by 9.6% year on year in June. Building permits, which presage future construction, showed a slightly less alarming decline of 1.6%.
“The downward trend in building activity will continue for some time yet. […] with in particular the fall in mortgage applications, down 30% from their peak in December,” said Ian Shepherdson of Pantheon Macroeconomics.
The markets will be watching the minutes of the Fed’s last monetary meeting, in the “minutes” to be published on Wednesday, to better assess the future attitude of the American central bank (Fed) on rates.
Industrial production, for its part, posted a better than expected score in July in the United States, advancing by 0.6% against stagnation the month before. A rebound in auto production, which had been falling for months, lifted the index.
Retail
The news was even better on the retail side, where the number one US supermarket Walmart finally readjusted its full-year profit forecast upwards, three weeks after issuing a profit warning that rattled financial markets. The jump in the title (+5.52% to 139.92 dollars) helped the Dow Jones.
The group said it expected its operating profit to decline by 9% to 11%, less than the 11% to 13% forecast so far over its entire financial year, an adjustment attributed to significant discounts, which helped to dispose of excess inventory, as well as price increases on other products.
In the second quarter of its staggered fiscal year, the Bentonville (Arkansas) company achieved a turnover of 152.9 billion dollars, up 8.4% year on year and above market expectations.
Other retail titles were gaining momentum, such as Target stores (+2.27%) and the semi-wholesale chain Costco (+1.06%). Amazon’s stock was stagnating.
Home Depot was also supported (+1.67%) as the DIY chain reported quarterly results in line with expectations and said it was reassured by the strength of demand for household items. The brand posted revenue of $43.4 billion in the second quarter of fiscal year 2022, up 6.5% year-on-year.
In a sparse trading market, which accentuates volatility, the big names in the NASDAQ fell back like Meta (Facebook, -1.76%), Netflix (-1.55%), Microsoft (-0.43%) or Apple (-0.58%).
On the bond market, yields on Treasury bills stretched slightly to 2.86% against 2.78% the day before.