PARIS (Reuters) – The New York Stock Exchange opened lower on Friday, penalized by the latest statements from the President of the American Federal Reserve, Jerome Powell, which suggest that the central bank will lower its rates at a slower pace than expected .

In early trading, the Dow Jones index lost 169.17 points, or -0.39%, to 43,581.69 points. The broader Standard & Poor’s 500 fell 38.42 points, or -0.65%, to 5,910.75 points.

The Nasdaq Composite lost 177.47 points, or 0.93%, to 18,930.18 points.

Jerome Powell said Thursday there was no need for the Fed to rush to cut its key rates, given economic growth, a strong job market and above-average inflation. 2% target.

The president of the Federal Reserve of Chicago, Austan Goolsbee, agreed on Friday, saying that it would be logical for the central bank to slow down the pace of its rate cuts in the event of disagreement on the so-called neutral rate, the one which neither stimulates nor hinders economic growth.

Great uncertainty about the evolution of the American economy has dominated since the return of Donald Trump to the White House, the Republican candidate having promised to implement customs duties, lower taxes and deregulate the economy, which which could revive inflation and provoke a trade war with China in particular.

Data released Friday showed that U.S. retail sales rose a little more than expected in October, but the underlying momentum in consumer spending appeared to be slowing at the start of the fourth quarter.

“The retail sales numbers have been pretty good overall. This is exactly what Powell was talking about yesterday: if the economy continues to be reasonably strong and inflation gets closer to our target, they can afford to be patient and go slower than expected in rate cuts,” comments Mike Dickson, head of research and quantitative strategies at Horizon Investments.

The three main American stock indices are heading towards weekly losses on Friday, as the initial wind of optimism born from the election of Donald Trump runs out of steam. At the same time, the market’s attention is shifting to the state of the economy and potential risks.

In stocks, Moderna lost 3.33%, Novavax 2.77% and Pfizer 4.20% following the appointment of Robert F. Kennedy Jr, an anti-vaccine figure, to lead the Department of Health in the future administration. of President-elect Donald Trump.

New technology giants like Nvidia, Apple and Alphabet dropped from 0.80% to 2.30% in reaction to Jerome Powell’s latest comments, while the yield on ten-year US bonds climbed by almost seven basis points, at 4.488%.

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(Written by Claude Chendjou, edited by Blandine Hénault)

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