(News Bulletin 247) – After a hesitant start, the New York Stock Exchange headed up on Friday, Apple’s rebound favoring, among other things, the return of buyers after four sessions of decline in a row for the Nasdaq.

At the end of the morning, the Dow Jones advanced by 0.2% to 34,580.1 points, while the Nasdaq Composite took not far from 0.4% to 13,798.5 points.

The recent bearish streak – triggered since the beginning of the week by the rise in oil prices that could rekindle inflation and justify further rate hikes – has paved the way for bargain hunting.

Fears related to inflationary pressures and monetary policy also seem to be ebbing on Friday, which favors cheap buying.

On the bond market, the yield on ten-year Treasury bills, at 4.22%, is moving away from its highest level in more than 15 years hit last month at 4.35%.

The CBOE volatility index, a barometer of investor anxiety, fell 4% to 13.8 points, returning close to its lows of early September.

In the macroeconomic chapter, the Commerce Department reported this morning a 0.2% decrease in inventories in July, which reflects a continuation of the destocking movement weighing on production.

On the NYMEX, the price of a barrel of American light crude oil (West Texas Intermediate, WTI) continued to rise, taking 0.7% to 87.5 dollars after the drop in Saudi Arabia’s production quotas and a further decline in oil stocks in the United States.

In its wake, shares of oil companies ExxonMobil and Chevron gained 1.8% and 1.1% respectively, while the S&P energy index rose 1.1%, by far the best performance of the 11 major indices. sectors.

Apple, which is recovering 1% after its sharp decline in the past two weeks, is the main contributor to the rise in the indices, while analysts are reassuring about its activity in China.

After the recent sell-off, bargain hunters are looking for oversold stocks, especially in the utilities sector, such as Duke Energy (+1.5%).

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