(Washington) The New York Stock Exchange ended lower on Tuesday, marking a pause on the eve of the publication of an inflation indicator in the United States, and for lack of catalyst.
Updated yesterday at 5:33 p.m.
The Dow Jones fell 0.35%, the NASDAQ index lost 0.25% and the broader S&P 500 index lost 0.30%.
“After a significant upward movement over the last three weeks […]the market is adopting a wait-and-see attitude before the publication of significant data” on inflation, Art Hogan of B. Riley Wealth Management commented to AFP.
The American market is awaiting the publication, on Wednesday, by the Labor Department of the CPI consumer price index for the month of November, watching for a possible rebound in inflation in the United States.
“The lackluster development of the main indices [de Wall Street] reflects a certain hesitation before publication [de l’indice] », Commented in a note Patrick O’Hare, of Briefing.com.
These data will give indications to the markets on the continuation of the monetary policy of the American Federal Bank (Fed), whose next meeting will be held on December 17 and 18 and at the end of which a reduction of a quarter of a point of percentage is anticipated.
Wall Street is also keeping its sights on the PPI producer price index and the European Central Bank’s (ECB) monetary policy meeting on Thursday, according to analysts.
“It’s a week where […] “Investors are going to need more good news to keep them excited,” Hogan observed.
Alphabet in green
On the bond market, the yield on 10-year US government bonds stood at 4.22%, compared to 4.19% the day before at the close.
In the stock market, the IT services giant Oracle finished in the red (-6.67%) following the publication on Monday, after Wall Street closed, of quarterly results below analysts’ expectations.
“The sector has been assessed to perfection and is not in a position to withstand negative news immediately,” said Art Hogan.
Alphabet, Google’s parent company, gained ground (+5.32%) the day after the presentation of a new chip called “Willow”, a major breakthrough likely to bring practical quantum computing closer to reality, according to the group.
This chip does in minutes what it would take major supercomputers 10 septillion years to do, according to Hartmut Neven, founder of Google Quantum AI.
The action of the Walgreens Boots Alliance group, struggling in the face of increased competition, jumped more than 20% on Tuesday, to close at 17.74%, after press reports on a possible acquisition by the company of Sycamore Partners investments.
According to the Wall Street Journal (WSJ), referring to unidentified people familiar with the matter, the pharmacy chain is in discussions with Sycamore with a view to its takeover, which could be announced in early 2025.
The low-cost airline Alaska Airlines continued to soar (+13.16%) after revising upwards its forecasts for the fourth quarter, due in particular to strong demand for air transport and the improvement of its price.
In addition, the company said in a press release that it would offer “new non-stop flights” in 2025, connecting Seattle to Tokyo and Seoul.
The TSX falls more than 100 points
The main Canadian stock index lost more than 100 points on Tuesday, before an expected cut in interest rates on Wednesday.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index closed down 121.09 points at 25,504.33 points.
The Canadian dollar traded at 70.59 US cents compared to 70.77 US cents on Monday.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, crude oil rose 12 cents to US$68.59 per barrel and natural gas fell two cents to US$3.16 per million Btu.
Gold rose US$32.60 to US$2,718.40 an ounce and copper fell less than a cent to US$4.27 a pound.
The Canadian Press
