(New York) Wall Street opened higher on Monday as investors braced for several important indicators and interventions from the president of the U.S. central bank to assess what the next steps in his monetary policy might be.
In early trading, the Dow Jones gained 0.25%, the NASDAQ index gained 0.47% and the broader S&P 500 index rose 0.39%.
The New York Stock Exchange ended in the green on Friday, still driven by a technical rebound as well as by investors who foresee the end of the monetary tightening cycle by the summer.
For Art Hogan of B. Riley Wealth Management, market players will be monitoring several elements this week that may give them indications in this regard.
Most important in his eyes will be the February labor market report in the United States due on Friday.
In January, 517,000 jobs were created, surprising observers who had not expected such a dynamic. Enough to encourage the Fed to continue to raise its rates, to slow down the economy, and thus be sure to bring in the nails too high inflation.
Investors “are wondering if [les chiffres de janvier] were either the exception or the norm,” notes Art Hogan.
“If we have figures around 200,000-250,000 job creations in February, then that will mean that January was the exception, and that will be good news for the stock market”, which generally benefits from a lowering of rates, adds the specialist.
However, according to him, a surprise should not be ruled out, the weather in February having been particularly mild.
The other big event of the week for investors will be the hearing of Fed Chairman Jerome Powell in the Senate on Tuesday and in the House of Representatives on Wednesday.
For Art Hogan, the official should keep a message similar to his last interventions, as when he said at the beginning of February that the Fed had “still work to do” in the face of inflation. “But we are never safe from a surprise”, underlines the expert.
On the values side, Tesla fell 1.55%. After lowering the sale prices of its most popular electric cars, Model 3 and Model Y, in January in order to stimulate demand, the group reduced the prices in the United States of its more expensive models, Model S and Model X. .
Silvergate Capital, parent company of Silvergate Bank known for its proximity to the cryptocurrency community, continued to decline (-2.07%) after warning Thursday of a possible cessation of payments in the coming year and suspending Friday evening its Silvergate Exchange Network payments network, which allowed its customers to make transfers around the clock.
The tobacco company Altria took 0.70% after announcing the acquisition, for 2.75 billion dollars, of the manufacturer of electronic cigarettes Njoy, a few days after the liquidation of its stake in Juul.