(Washington) The New York Stock Exchange closed in disarray on Wednesday, reassured by the publication of an inflation indicator in line with economists’ projections, but weighed down by the decline of certain large technological capitalizations.
Posted at 9:39 a.m.
Updated at 5:17 p.m.
The Dow Jones gained 0.11%, the NASDAQ index lost 0.26% and the broader S&P 500 index finished close to balanced, at +0.02%.
The American market reacted on Wednesday to the publication of the American consumer price index CPI, which showed, as expected, that inflation had recovered its head in October, to 2.6% over one year, against 2 .4% in September.
“The CPI index turned out to be completely in line with expectations” which is “a positive point”, while “some investors feared that it could be a little higher than the consensus”, commented to the ‘AFP Art Hogan of B. Riley Wealth Management.
In addition, the market expects that “the American central bank (Fed) will continue to reduce its rates”, after a further cut of a quarter of a percentage point on Thursday.
Operators now assign an 82% probability to a quarter-point reduction at the end of the December meeting, compared to just 59% on Tuesday, according to the CME Group estimate.
“The market continues to welcome a US economy that appears to be experiencing above-average growth,” according to Mr. Hogan.
The yield on 10-year US government bonds stood at 4.44%, compared to 4.42% the day before at closing.
Wall Street is now awaiting the publication of the PPI producer price index on Thursday, then that of retail sales and industrial production on Friday.
The NASDAQ index – with a strong technological dominance – was weighed down by the fall of some of its giant capitalizations, notably those in the semiconductor sector.
Nvidia (-1.36%), Broadcom (-1.50%), Qualcomm (-1.83%), Marvell Technology (-2.92%) and Micron (-4.02%) all finished lower .
Another giant of the sector, AMD (Advanced Micro Devices) fell (-3.01%) following press information according to which the group is preparing to reduce its global workforce by nearly 4%, or nearly a thousand employees, in order to concentrate on the development of its chips used for the operation of artificial intelligence (AI).
Amazon was sought after (+2.48%) after launching on Wednesday in the United States a section dedicated to low-cost items called “Amazon Haul” to compete with Chinese online commerce giants, such as Shein or Temu.
Through its new service, Amazon promises “incredible finds” at “bargain prices”, according to the group’s website.
Low-cost airline Spirit Airlines tumbled (-59.32%) after the Wall Street Journal reported that the group would prepare to file for bankruptcy in the coming weeks.
The decline of Spirit benefited its competitor Jetblue (+9.31%), which had given up on buying Spirit Airlines in March a few weeks after an unfavorable court decision, the American Department of Justice having obtained from a federal judge that ‘it blocks the operation.
The car manufacturer Rivian gained ground (+13.71%) driven by the Volkswagen group’s announcement on Tuesday ensuring that its equity stake in the young manufacturer would be greater than expected. The two partners hope to market jointly developed vehicles from 2026.
The Mediterranean-inspired fast food chain Cava did well (+1.57%) thanks to results clearly above analysts’ expectations, including good turnover.
Walt Disney closed in the green (+1.71%), with the market waiting before the publication of the group’s quarterly results on Thursday before the opening.
Toronto closes higher
The main Canadian stock index was up on Wednesday, thanks to the strength of the technology sector, while American stock markets were mixed.
The Toronto trading floor’s S&P/TSX Composite Index closed up 66.01 points at 24,989.02 points.
On the currency market, the Canadian dollar was trading at 71.53 US cents, up from its average price of 71.72 US cents on Tuesday.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, the price of crude oil increased by 31 US cents to US$68.43 per barrel, while that of natural gas gained 7 US cents to US$2.98 per million BTU.
The price of gold fell by US$19.80 to US$2,586.50 per ounce and that of copper fell by six US cents to US$4.08 per pound.
The Canadian Press
