PARIS (Reuters) – The New York Stock Exchange opened hesitantly on Wednesday as investors cautiously positioned themselves ahead of the Federal Reserve’s upcoming policy meeting, while technology stocks supported indexes.
In early trading, the Dow Jones index was unchanged at 40,746.84 points.
The broader Standard & Poor’s 500 rose 1.28% to 5,506.00 points, while the Nasdaq Composite gained 2.07%, or 354.83 points, to 17,502.248.
Both indices are more exposed to technology than the Dow Jones.
The US Fed will publish its rate decision at 18:00 GMT, closely scrutinized by the markets which note that the balance between the two mandates of the central bank is beginning to evolve.
Inflation is indeed slowing, rising in June to its lowest pace in a year, while labor markets are weakening, as the latest indicators suggest. The private sector created fewer jobs than expected in July, ADP figures showed Wednesday.
However, the Fed should maintain the status quo and wait for its Jackson Hole meeting at the end of August to decide on the next monetary path.
Elsewhere, technology stocks are rebounding strongly after declining on Tuesday, with Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) reporting more optimistic than expected guidance.
In terms of values, AMD rose by 8.9% and pulled Nvidia and Broadcomm in its wake, which gained 7.1% and 5.5% respectively. The group raised its sales forecasts for artificial intelligence chips for 2024.
Microsoft’s figures disappointed on Tuesday and the group fell by 0.6%.
(Written by Corentin Chappron, edited by Kate Entringer)
Copyright © 2024 Thomson Reuters
I have over 8 years of experience working in the news industry. I have worked as a reporter, editor, and now managing editor at 247 News Agency. I am responsible for the day-to-day operations of the news website and overseeing all of the content that is published. I also write a column for the website, covering mostly market news.
