by Stephen Culp

NEW YORK (Reuters) – The New York Stock Exchange ended in mixed order on Tuesday, with only the Dow Jones ending in the green, as investors awaited the release of major inflation data and the unofficial start of the earnings season , at the end of the week, with major American banks.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.29%, or 98.27 points, to 33,684.79 points.

The broader S&P-500 lost 0.17 points, marginally lower, to 4,108.94 points.

The Nasdaq Composite fell for its part by 52.48 points (0.43%) to 12,031.88 points.

Sensitive to changes in the economy, sectors such as industry and transport carried the Dow Jones, while the Nasdaq and the S&P-500, once on the rise, fell into the red at the end of the session.

“When you see cyclicals in play, that means fears of a recession might be somewhat exaggerated,” said Ryan Detrick, strategist at Carson Group in Omaha.

“It’s a sign of good health, which you might not expect if we were heading straight into a recession,” he said.

Wall Street briefly racked up gains in the afternoon after Chicago Fed Chairman Austan Goolsbee urged caution and warned that the US central bank should be careful not to be too aggressive in its hikes interest rates to curb inflation.

Without any real market catalyst, investors were looking to Wednesday’s publication of consumer prices in the United States, with the aim of finding clues as to whether or not inflation would continue to slow.

“It’s the calm before the storm,” Ryan Detrick said of today’s session. “With major inflation data tomorrow, Fed ‘minutes’ due shortly and earnings looming, traders have taken a cautious approach (…).”

Many market participants are anticipating a further 25 basis point rate hike following the Fed’s monetary policy meeting next month, amid slowing inflation.

Moreover, on the sidelines of consumer prices, investors have in mind the unofficial start of the earnings season on Friday with three major US banks: Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo.

Analysts currently expect S&P-500 companies to report quarterly results down 5.2% year on year, a sharp turnaround from 1.4% growth expected at the start. of the year, according to Refinitiv data.

Among the eleven major sectors of the S&P-500, communication services and technology fell on Tuesday, while energy and financials were the best performers.

On the value side, note the jumps between 6% and 17% of players in the cryptocurrency sector, such as Coinbase Global, Riot Platforms and Marathon Digital, while bitcoin crossed the $30,000 threshold for the first time in ten months.

( Jean Terzian)

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