PARIS (Reuters) – The main Wall Street indices are moving up slightly on Friday, supported by strong results from several banks.
In early trading, the Dow Jones index climbed 0.02% to 34,046.49 points and the wider Standard & Poor’s 500 gained 0.34% to 4,160.33 points.
The Nasdaq Composite takes 0.23% to 12,193.77 points.
Positive quarterly results from a trio of big banks helped ease fears of escalating tensions in the sector, following the rout following the bankruptcy of SVB and Signature last month.
JPMorgan (+7.3%), Citigroup (+4.3%) and Wells Fargo (+0.45%) posted earnings above expectations, signaling the resilience of their businesses.
Boeing stands out on the downside with a fall of 6.71%, which weighs on the Dow Jones index. The aircraft manufacturer announced an interruption in the delivery of certain 737 MAX because of a quality concern at the supplier Spirit, which plunged 18.54%.
On the macroeconomic side, retail sales fell more than expected last month (-1% against a Reuters consensus of -0.4%) but industrial production growth came in above expectations.
On Thursday, data showing slowing inflation and an easing labor market fueled optimism that the Federal Reserve’s rate-hike cycle would end soon and helped the S&P-500 end at a record high in two months.
One of its governors, Christopher Waller, however, pointed out on Friday that the Fed had not made much progress in bringing inflation back to the target set at 2% and that maintaining tight monetary policy would take longer than the markets predict.
(Laetitia Volga, edited by Blandine Hénault)
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