(News Bulletin 247) – The New York Stock Exchange opened without a marked trend on Tuesday in the absence of catalysts in the markets, especially regarding the evolution of the economy.

At the end of the morning, the Dow Jones advanced 0.1% to 33,616.8 points, while the Nasdaq Composite fell 0.5% to 12,019.7 points.

The beginning of April on the stock market is still proving just as sluggish, with nothing immediately seeming capable of dictating a real trajectory for the equity markets.

The major New York indices have behaved rather well since the beginning of the year and investors now seem to want to take a break in the face of the announced slowdown in activity.

Fears surrounding the health of the commercial real estate sector or the consequences of the credit crunch are also prompting investors to be cautious.

Their restraint is also explained by the imminence of the inflation figures, which should give new indications tomorrow on the timetable for the end of the Fed’s rate hike cycle.

The markets had ended slightly higher the day before, the unsurprising employment figures having confirmed the scenario of a final rate hike next month.

Most of the S&P sector indices are moving in the green, primarily those of basic materials (+0.9%) and energy (+0.7%) helped by the recovery in oil prices.

As for individual values, Caterpillar climbed 2.5% and signed the largest rise in the Dow, supported by favorable comments from Jefferies, which reaffirmed its ‘buy’ recommendation and its target price of 300 dollars on the title.

Boeing advanced by more than 0.8% after announcing the delivery of 130 commercial aircraft during the 1st quarter (i.e. 113 737 models, 1 747 model, 1 767 model, 4 777 models and 11 787 models).

Moderna fell 6% despite the company reporting progress on its mRNA vaccine portfolio, including the development of new candidates against Lyme disease and norovirus.

Treasury bills show an almost unchanged yield of 3.44% after having reached a peak for almost a week yesterday, following the publication of employment figures.

The foreign exchange market is also ultra-calm with an unchanged dollar at 1.0920 euro.

While JPMorgan Chase, Citi and Wells Fargo will open the ball for quarterly publications in the United States on Friday, the major American banks are advancing in unison or almost, with a gain of 0.6% for the sector.

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