PARIS (Reuters) – The New York Stock Exchange opened higher on Thursday with the hope of an end to the rise in interest rates in the United States, the American Federal Reserve (Fed) having opted the day before for a new pause on the cost of credit after a similar decision in September.

In early trading, the Dow Jones index gained 290.2 points, or 0.87%, to 33,564.78 points and the broader Standard & Poor’s 500 rose 1.14% to 4,286.5 points.

The Nasdaq Composite gained 1.21%, or 158.43 points, to 13,219.90.

The Fed, as expected, maintained the “fed funds” rate target at 5.25%-5.50% on Wednesday evening and its president, Jerome Powell, while not ruling out further rate increases, recognized that the recent rise in bond yields was having an impact on the economy.

The Fed boss’s remarks, perceived as less restrictive, caused American bond yields to fall on Wednesday, falling to a two-week low. The ten-year fell again on Thursday by almost 15 basis points, to 4.6465%, although it had exceeded the 5% threshold at the beginning of October.

“Overall, markets interpreted (the decisions of) the Fed meeting as dovish,” Charu Chanana, market strategist at Saxo Markets, wrote in a note.

“Given deteriorating consumer and business confidence and growing default risks, this supports the likelihood that we have reached the end of the Fed’s tightening cycle,” she added.

The probability of a Fed rate hike in December and January is now only around 20% and 25%, respectively, according to CME Group’s FedWatch barometer. This barometer assesses the probability that the current cycle of monetary tightening is over at 70%.

Growth stocks like Microsoft, Nvidia and Tesla rose by 0.3% to 3.12% as a result of further easing in bond prices.

Numerous quarterly publications also liven up the discussions: Qualcomm jumped 5.44% after announcing that it anticipated quarterly turnover and profit above Wall Street expectations.

Apple, the world’s largest capitalization, gains 1.08% while the group will publish its quarterly results after the close, while Electronic Arts takes 4.44%, the video game publisher having raised its annual profit forecast after one quarter better than expected.

Paypal advances by 3.71% and Mondelez International by 1.76%, thanks to the increase in their respective forecasts, while Starbucks (+10.44%) benefits from the publication of a quarterly turnover on a comparable basis. comparable higher than Wall Street expectations.

On the downside, Moderna fell 12.51% due to the lowering of its annual revenue forecast against a backdrop of declining demand for COVID-19 vaccines.

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(Writing by Claude Chendjou, edited by Kate Entringer)

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