(News Bulletin 247) – The New York Stock Exchange opened in the red on Wednesday, penalized by questions about the evolution of interest rates following economic indicators generally better than expected.
At the end of the morning, the Dow Jones fell 0.4% to 33,949.5 points, while the Nasdaq Composite fell 0.3% to 11,923.6 points.
Investors are cautious after the announcement of a stronger than expected rise in retail sales in January, which fueled the doubts that recently appeared among investors.
After two consecutive months of decline, retail sales rebounded 3% last month, a performance that beat expectations in particular due to the strength of car and furniture purchases.
Also published this morning, the ‘Empire State’ index rose to -5.8 in February, against -32.9 in January, which reflects a lesser contraction in activity in the manufacturing sector in New York.
As for industrial production, it stagnated last month according to the Federal Reserve, after falling 1% in December.
All these rather solid statistics reinforce in the eyes of investors the scenario of further rate hikes by the Federal Reserve in order to curb growth and mitigate inflation.
If the specter of recession seems to be receding, investors prefer to pause while waiting to see more clearly, knowing that the S&P 500 has risen 7.7% since the start of the year.
On the bond market, the yield on ten-year US Treasury bonds confirms its recovery above 3.79%, favored by the rise in expectations of a rise in Fed rates.
The dollar rebounded and gained 0.6% to 1.0670 against the euro, its highest in a week against the single currency.
On the energy market, a barrel of US light crude fell 1.8% to 77.6 dollars following the announcement of a new weekly increase in US oil stocks.
Side values, Kraft Heinz nibbles 0.2% after the publication of a quarterly EPS up 7.6% for revenues up 10% (+10.4% organic).
Biogen lost more than 2% following the presentation of a profit up 19% in annual comparison, despite revenues of 2.54 billion dollars, down 7%.
The Airbnb private housing rental platform climbed 12% after presenting quarterly results above expectations and declaring that it was still benefiting from strong demand at the start of 2023.
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