PARIS (Reuters) – The New York Stock Exchange fell slightly at the start of the session on Wednesday, continuing on the trend of February, with fears linked to inflation, which favored the rise in yields on government bonds.
In early trading, the Dow Jones index was virtually stable at 32,663.72 points and the broader Standard & Poor’s 500 lost 0.21% to 3,961.66 points.
The Nasdaq Composite lost 0.17%, or 19.107 points, to 11,436.437.
In February, the Dow Jones fell by 4.19%, the S&P-500 by 2.61% and the Nasdaq by 1.11%.
On the bond market, the yield on ten-year US Treasury bills gained more than four basis points to 3.9572% and that of two years, more sensitive to rate expectations, rose in session to the highest since November at 4.858%.
Traders expect the Fed to raise the federal funds rate target to a range of 5.25%-5.50% from 4.50%-4.75% currently. This is more than the level reported in December by members of the institution.
Money markets are pricing an 80% chance of a 25 basis point rate hike on March 22, but the possibility of a larger half-point hike has increased lately.
The market expects at 15:00 GMT the ISM services index in the United States.
On the business side, Novavax fell by 25.27%, the laboratory having expressed doubts about its ability to remain in business. Kohl’s fell slightly (-0.60%) after publishing an annual profit forecast below expectations and AMC Entertainment dropped 3.38%, the cinema chain having posted a drop of more than 15% in its fourth quarter income.
(Laetitia Volga, editing by Kate Entringer)
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