La façade du New York Stock Exchange ( AFP / CHARLY TRIBALLEAU )
The New York Stock Exchange ended higher on Tuesday, ignoring the uncertainty linked to the presidential election to focus on the good health of businesses and the American economy.
The Dow Jones gained 1.02%, the Nasdaq index gained 1.43% and the S&P 500 broad index lost 1.23%.
While many investors anticipate increased volatility after the election, the New York market weathered this election day with composure.
The VIX index, which measures investor nervousness, even contracted by almost 6%.
Stocks up, oil and metals too, dollar down, investors have even regained their taste for risk.
They abandoned bonds, considered a safe haven.
The yield on 2-year US government bonds rose to 4.20%, compared to 4.16% the day before at closing. The price of bonds moves in the opposite direction to their price.
“The market tells us that the economy continues to resist” to an environment of high rates, “including in this context of uncertainty, on customs duties, on tax policy, on regulation. It is holding up” , commented Victoria Fernandez of Crossmark Global Investments.
The latest polls announced an election like the United States has rarely experienced, with the outcome depending on a handful of key states.
Economists and investors expect that if successful, Donald Trump will put in place new customs barriers, reduce taxes and deregulate the American economy.
This policy would, in general opinion, cause a widening of the public deficit, then a rise in bond rates, with the United States having to offer a higher yield to ensure that it can repay all its debt.
This sequence would also have the effect of pushing up the dollar.
In the event of the election of her Democratic rival Kamala Harris, the New York market anticipates a less favorable positioning for markets and businesses.
On the stock market, Boeing (-2.62%) did not benefit from the ratification by a majority of members of the IAM union of a new social agreement, which ended a strike of almost two months.
The agreement provides for a salary increase of 38% on average over the four years that the new agreement will last.
Data analytics and artificial intelligence (AI) specialist Palantir soared after beating third-quarter projections and announcing targets significantly higher than those set by analysts.
CEO Alex Karp spoke of “unwavering demand for the most advanced artificial intelligence technologies.”
These declarations benefited major semiconductor players such as Nvidia (+2.84%).
The champion of generative AI, whose GPU chips are the most in demand to develop this technology, took back the title of the world's largest capitalization at the close on Tuesday from Apple, after having briefly held it in June.
Nvidia is now worth $3.431 billion, as much as Amazon and Meta combined.
Also swept away by the wave were Broadcom (+3.17%), Intel (+3.55%) and Amazon (+1.90%).
The investment company Apollo Global Investment jumped (+7.06%) after reporting better than expected results. The group derives an increasingly large part of its revenue from debt issuance, an activity serving companies that want to borrow.
Marathon Petroleum (+3.19%) also exceeded market forecasts, even if margins and profits contracted significantly with the fall in oil prices.
The steelmaker Cleveland-Cliffs slipped (-11.44%), penalized for a quarterly loss greater than expected, linked to the depression in steel prices. Chief executive Lourenco Goncalves said he was optimistic that demand would rebound in 2025.
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