(New York) The New York Stock Exchange finished sharply on Thursday, driven by a technical rebound and cheap purchases, but nervousness and volatility remain due for lack of clinical data on the Omicron variant of the coronavirus.
The Dow Jones gained 1.82% to 34,639.79 points, the NASDAQ index, influenced by technology stocks, 0.83% to 15,381.31 points and the broader S&P 500 index, 1.42% to 4577.34 points.
After having started in dispersed order, the New York indices have resolutely climbed. All sectors finished in the green, with a special mention for industry and finance.
The announcement on Monday by the President of the American Central Bank (Fed), Jerome Powell, of a possible accelerated monetary normalization suggests an upcoming rate hike. It would allow banks to restore their margins.
As for the industry, it was driven by the airline sector, in particular Boeing (+ 7.54% to 202.38 dollars), prized after the announcement of the Chinese regulatory authority that its 737 MAX should be soon allowed to fly in China.
Beijing banned the aircraft from a Chinese sky in March 2019, after the crash of the Ethiopian Airlines 737 MAX.
The two sectors weighing more than 20% of the Dow Jones, their good session explains that the flagship index of the New York Stock Exchange behaved better than NASDAQ or S&P 500.
“It didn’t take long for investors to get back to cheap buying,” Oanda analyst Edward Moya said in a note.
The fact that the S&P 500 hit a technical low on Wednesday also gave the market support for a rebound, said Terry Sandven, head of equity strategy for US Bank Wealth Management.
Beyond these technical elements, “there is no apparent reason” for this getaway high in the green.
Thus, “I would not draw any conclusions from today’s increase,” warned the official. Given the uncertainties that still hang over the potential effects on the economy of the new Omicron variant, it is “likely that volatility will remain higher than average until the end of the year and early 2022”.
The bond market continued to favor investors shying away from risky assets, with the average 10-year government bond rate unchanged from the previous day at 1.43%, down from 1.69% a year ago. one week.
A sign that the market is preparing more and more ostensibly for at least one rate hike in 2022, the yield on two-year government bonds was moving close to its highest level since the start of the pandemic (0.65% ), 0.61%.
Symbol of the tension that reigns among investors, all the values which directly or indirectly affect tourism have again made the elastic, after two sessions in the red.
Airlines American Airlines and Delta Air Lines jumped 7.00% and 9.33% respectively, while cruise line Carnival gleaned 9.28%.
Weighed down by rumors of exit from the quotation, the online commerce giant Alibaba fell, in session, to its lowest for two and a half years, before recovering a little (-0.40% to 122.00 dollars ).
For its first day of listing, the Singaporean vehicle reservation platform with drivers (VTC) Grab had an eventful journey.
After opening around 13 dollars, the title dropped more than 30%, to finish at 8.75 dollars, which values the “Uber of Southeast Asia” around 34 billion dollars.
The payment services specialist Square reached its lowest level in six months (-1.21% to 192.15 dollars), its name change, announced Wednesday evening, having no effect on the course.
The share price had also not benefited from the announcement on Monday of the departure of Jack Dorsey from Twitter, the other group led by the boss of Square, which will be renamed Block.
Investors have especially retained the indefinite postponement of the extraordinary general meeting of Afterpay, which was to ratify the takeover by Square of the Australian specialist in credit payments on the internet for $ 29 billion, initially announced in early August.
The giant Kroger, the second largest food distributor in the United States after Walmart has surfed on results above expectations (+ 11.04% to 44.65 dollars)
Toronto close up
The Toronto Stock Exchange climbed nearly 1.5% Thursday, posting its best session in 10 months thanks to a widespread rally despite uncertainty surrounding the impact of the most recent variant of the COVID-19 virus.
Toronto’s S & P / TSX Composite Index gained 197.43 points to end the day with 20,762.03 points. It was his best single-session gain since February 1.
Markets rebounded sharply after their collapse on Wednesday, following the news of the first confirmed case of the Omicron variant in the United States.
“Bull days are headline-driven, and bull days seem to rely more on the data,” observed Kevin Headland, chief investment officer at Manulife Investment Management.
The Omicron variant will remain a concern until there is concrete information from vaccine manufacturers, he said. However, initial information suggests that those vaccinated have mild symptoms.
“There was a knee-jerk reaction (Wednesday) to the news of the new cases,” he said in an interview.
Headland said the fundamentals remain fairly strong. Companies that exceed expectations are rewarded, while the big headlines result in “short-term hiccups.”
None of the Toronto Stock Exchange’s 11 sectors lost ground on Thursday, with nine of them even posting gains of at least 1%.
The finance sector, which accounts for about 30% of the Toronto market, advanced 2.2%.
TD Bank led the way, with its stock picking up 4.9% after posting strong quarterly results that beat expectations. The bank also announced an increase in its dividend.
The energy group rose 1.4% as crude oil prices rebounded from their recent weakness. The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its allies confirmed Thursday that they will stick to their plan to add 400,000 barrels a day to production in January.
In the currency market, the Canadian dollar traded at an average of 78.03 cents US, its lowest level in 10 weeks. It had traded the day before at an average price of 78.27 cents US.
The Canadian Press