PARIS (Reuters) – The New York Stock Exchange opened higher on Monday on bargain buying after its worst week since the start of the year on the prospect of a prolonged Federal Reserve interest rate hike. US (Fed).

In early trading, the Dow Jones index gained 215.26 points, or 0.66%, to 33,032.18 points and the broader Standard & Poor’s 500 rose 0.79% to 4,001.75 points.

The Nasdaq Composite took 1.07%, or 121.66 points, to 11,516.60.

Without calling into question the underlying trend of a probable sustained rise in the cost of credit, opportunistic purchases are enabling equities to rebound after the strong sales of last week.

The Dow Jones erased all of its year-to-date gains on Friday and the S&P-500 posted a third consecutive weekly decline following the release of the PCE price index in the United States which showed an acceleration surprise, after other data pointing to resilience in the economy and still-high inflation.

Markets are currently pricing in a Fed rate peak of 5.41% in September, according to the FedWatch Barometer.

NatWest bank, for its part, has indicated that it now expects a 50 basis point hike in Fed rates in March, with a terminal rate of 5.75%.

At least six Fed officials are due to speak this week, while monthly US manufacturing activity data will be released on Friday.

In the meantime, the rebound on Wall Street is led in particular by the technology compartment, whose index takes 1.08%.

Among growth stocks, Tesla is ahead by 3.60%, the automaker having announced that its factory near Berlin was producing some 4,000 vehicles per week, a three-week advance on the originally planned schedule.

In business publications, Berkshire Hathaway is in the green on the news of the largest operating profit in its history in 2022, while rail operator Union Pacific jumps 10% after the announcement of the departure of its managing director Lance Fritz, in a context of pressure from the hedge fund Soroban Capital Partners.

On the downside, Pfizer fell 1%, the laboratory being in discussions to buy Seagen (+ 11.37%) according to the Wall Street Journal, an operation valued at several billion dollars.

(Written by Claude Chendjou, edited by Kate Entringer)

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