PARIS (Reuters) – The New York Stock Exchange opened lower on Thursday amid caution ahead of U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell’s second hearing before Congress.
In early trading, the Dow Jones index lost 82.63 points, or 0.24%, to 33,868.89 points and the broader Standard & Poor’s 500 fell 0.30% to 4,352.59 points.
The Nasdaq Composite lost 0.25%, or 33.302 points, to 13,468.89.
Jerome Powell is due to speak from 2:00 p.m. GMT before the Senate Banking Committee, while the day before he declared before the House of Representatives Financial Services Committee that there was still “a long way to go” to bring back the inflation at the 2% target.
This raises fears of a continuation of the monetary tightening started in March 2022 when the “fed funds” range is now 5.00%-5.25%.
“Powell’s testimony before Congress on Wednesday did nothing to allay concerns that the (rate) pause we had at the June (Fed) meeting may have been limited to only that,” said Mark Luschini, strategist at Janney Montgomery Scott.
However, financial markets are still anticipating a single rate hike by the Fed of 25 basis points by the end of the year, compared to two in the central bank’s projections.
Most values ​​related to new technologies, which suffered on Wednesday, are still down on Thursday, the sector index losing 0.15%, the fourth consecutive session in the red.
Tesla fell 2.14% as Morgan Stanley lowered its advice on the automaker to “line weight” from “overweight”.
Spirit Aerosystems, which produces critical structures for Boeing, fell by 11.55%, while the American aircraft manufacturer lost 3.11%. The aeronautical equipment manufacturer suspended production at its factory in Wichita, Kansas on Thursday after employees rejected a salary offer and announced a strike starting June 24.
Accenture’s Wall Street-listed stock fell 5.47% as the IT consultancy announced Thursday that it expects current-quarter revenue to fall below expectations due to an uncertain economic backdrop that could weigh on the budget of its customers.
(Written by Claude Chendjou, edited by Kate Entringer)
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