(News Bulletin 247) – The New York Stock Exchange should open slightly higher on Monday morning, at the start of a week that promises to be busy with the economy.

Half an hour before the opening, the ‘futures’ contracts on the New York indices advance from 0.1% to 0.4%, announcing a start to the session in positive territory.

Today’s session should remain quiet due to a lightened agenda both at the economic and company level, but the week will be much busier with many indicators on the agenda.

A degree of caution should logically prevail pending the publication on Friday of the monthly figures for job creation in the United States, which will be the real highlight of the week.

The main New York indices had ended the past week with gains of between 2% and 3%, despite a surge in bond yields, which crossed the 4% threshold for ten-year paper.

Even if the rise in inflation and the prospects for rate hikes are still worrying investors, Wall Street has been better oriented for some time, in particular thanks to a series of reassuring indicators reinforcing the scenario of a ‘soft landing’ for the economy.

However, it will be necessary to wait until Friday and the traditional monthly report on American employment, still closely watched by the markets, to try to see more clearly.

The Federal Reserve will also be paying particular attention to these figures, and in particular to changes in hourly wages, whose good figures could open the door to a slowdown in rate increases.

Investors, who are waiting to be reassured about the Fed’s intentions, will also follow the speech by Jerome Powell, the chairman of the Federal Reserve, before Congress, scheduled for tomorrow and Wednesday.

Traders generally expect Powell to reaffirm his desire to continue the restrictive monetary policy put in place by the central bank in order to combat soaring inflation.

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