(News Bulletin 247) – The New York Stock Exchange ended in scattered order on Friday, against a backdrop of persistent inflationary fears: the Dow Jones gained 0.4% to 33,827 points, but the S&P 500 lost 0.3% to 4079 points and the Nasdaq Composite, 0.6% to 11787 points.

The American equity markets thus ended the week overall in a rather mixed way, since over the five sessions, the Dow crumbled by 0.1% and the S&P by 0.3% while the Nasdaq managed to nibble 0.6%.

Rather reassuring import prices, with a decline of 0.2% in January, did not dispel fears that inflation persisted which would incite the Fed to act, this statistic having followed several indicators testifying to inflationary risks earlier in the week.

“The high level of inflation expectations at a horizon of 12 months suggests that it could prove difficult to quickly bring core inflation back to its target,” said Bank of America, which also feared a “hard landing ‘ economy.

This concern for activity was rather reinforced by the publication, at the start of the session, of an index of leading indicators from the Conference Board, down 0.3% in January, at the level expected by the consensus.

“The Conference Board still expects high inflation, rising interest rates and shrinking consumer spending to push the economy into recession this year,” the employers’ organization said.

Side values, Deere climbed 7.5% after the presentation of quarterly results better than expected, driven by the strength of demand for its agricultural machinery, and an increase in its annual forecast.

Applied Materials ended in equilibrium the day after the publication by the equipment manufacturer for the semiconductor industry, of an adjusted EPS and revenues up 7% for its first quarter 2022-23.

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