PARIS (Reuters) – The New York Stock Exchange opened on Monday with weak variations in the absence of new catalysts as investors now have their sights set on U.S. inflation and the first results of the major banks expected this week.

In early trading, the Dow Jones index gained 102.92 points, or 0.31%, to 33,837.8 points and the broader Standard & Poor’s 500 rose 0.15% to 4,405.9 points.

The Nasdaq Composite climbed 0.06%, or 8.56 points, to 13,669.281.

After the publication of the monthly US employment report on Friday showing a less dynamic labor market than expected but rising wage pressures, investors are now awaiting monthly inflation figures in the United States on Wednesday.

A confirmation of the slowdown in consumer prices in June to 3.1% year on year, as expected by the Reuters consensus, could lead them to revise rate hike expectations as their trajectory remains uncertain for the end of the year. ‘year.

“Energy prices and supermarket food prices have come down. So (inflation) should still be a little persistent in some sectors, but head in the right direction,” predicts Robert Pavlik, portfolio manager at Dakota Wealth.

The corporate earnings season for the second quarter also begins this Friday with JPMorgan Chase and Citigroup in particular, which also encourages some caution.

Citigroup downgraded its rating on U.S. stocks from “overweight” to “neutral” on Monday, citing the threat of a recession. The U.S. bank further indicated that business growth is expected to slow as the “euphoria” over artificial intelligence (AI) enters a digestion phase.

According to data from Refinitiv, earnings for S&P-500 companies are expected to fall 5.7% in the second quarter.

In the meantime, on the stock market, Meta Platforms is ahead by 2.24%, still driven by the launch of Threads, a competitor of Twitter, which according to Evercore ISI, is well placed to overshadow the microblogging site, bought by Elon Musk.

Icahn Enterprises jumped 11.91% after the finalization of modified loan agreements between Carl Icahn and the banks to decouple personal loans taken by the billionaire from the group’s action following criticism from Hindenburg Research.

The Chinese manufacturers of electric vehicles listed on Wall Street Xpeng, Li Auto and Nio fell from 1.23% to 3.60% after the decision of the federation of the sector (CAAM) to abandon its commitment on “abnormal pricing”.

(Written by Claude Chendjou, edited by Kate Entringer)

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