PARIS (Reuters) – The New York Stock Exchange opened slightly higher on Thursday but without much conviction, uncertainty over the timing of a possible rate cut by the American Federal Reserve (Fed) keeping markets under pressure while the president of the American central bank is due to speak in the evening.
In early trading, the Dow Jones index gained 0.24 points, or 0.04%, to 34,112.51 points and the broader Standard & Poor’s 500 also rose 0.04% to 4,384. .58 points.
The Nasdaq Composite takes 0.06%, or 8.81 points, to 13,659.224.
A new speech from Jerome Powell, Chairman of the Fed, is expected at 19:00 GMT as part of a conference organized by the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The day before, speaking at the Federal Reserve’s R&S Centennial Conference, he declined to comment on monetary policy.
A majority of traders believe that the Fed will keep rates unchanged until the end of the year, but the probability of a first cut in the cost of credit, of 25 basis points, by May 2024 is only d ‘around 47%, according to the CME Group’s Fedtwatch barometer.
“The market got carried away by how quickly it thought interest rate cuts would be implemented. It understood that further rate hikes were unlikely because … cuts were coming soon happen,” notes Stuart Cole, chief macroeconomist at Equiti Capital.
“But that has never been the case and the comments from various central bank officials this week have really opened our eyes to this topic,” he added.
US Treasury yields tightened again on Thursday, with the ten-year gaining more than two basis points, to 4.5333% and the two-year by around 1.5 bps, to 4.955%.
In values, company publications liven up the exchanges, starting with Walt Disney which advances by 5.78% thanks to a better profit than expected, while the casino operator MGM Resorts International takes 2.43% after better than expected results in the third quarter.
On the downside, ARM Holdings fell 6.89%, the chip designer anticipating sales lower than expected for the current quarter due in particular to the postponement of the signing of a major licensing contract.
AMC Entertainment plunged 19.17% despite higher than expected revenue, the cinema operator having announced a plan to sell shares.
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(Written by Claude Chendjou, edited by Blandine Hénault)
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