New York (awp/afp) – The New York Stock Exchange opened higher on Wednesday, welcoming new employment data which preserves the hypothesis of a new rate cut from the American central bank (Fed).
Around 3:50 p.m. GMT, the Dow Jones rose 0.36%, the Nasdaq index 0.96% and the broader S&P 500 index 0.36%.
On Tuesday, Nasdaq and S&P 500 set new closing records.
The tone of the session was set by the report from the ADP firm, according to which 146,000 jobs were created in the private sector in November, less than the 150,000 anticipated by economists.
In addition, the October figure was revised downward (-49,000).
For Patrick O’Hare, of Briefing.com, this publication “is at the ideal level, neither too high nor too low”.
For Adam Sarhan of 50 Park Investments, the report provided a boost to stocks.
“We always come back to the Fed,” he explained, the signals confirming a deceleration in American economic activity being likely to encourage the institution to continue its monetary easing.
After the ADP data was put online, investors revised upwards the probability of seeing the Federal Reserve make a new cut at the end of its meeting on December 17 and 18, to 79% against 73 % Tuesday.
Some nevertheless noted a jump in salary increases for employees who have not changed companies, for the first time in more than two years.
But this development was not enough to change the mood of stakeholders, any more than the PMI index of the ISM institute, which showed activity in the services sector in November less buoyant than the previous month and in- below expectations.
This disappointment may also appear as a sign of an economy which is catching its breath after more than three years on the ground, capable of encouraging the Fed to loosen the screw on rates.
After a slight tension, bond rates returned to levels close to those of the day before. The yield on 10-year US government bonds stood at 4.23%, compared to 4.22% at Tuesday’s close.
Like Monday and Tuesday, the giant capitalizations of the technology sector continued to drive the indices, notably Nvidia (+1.27%), Microsoft (+1.63%) and Amazon (+2.97%).
“The context remains very favorable for +tech+ and investors now see it as a major component of the economy,” argued Adam Sarhan.
Elsewhere on the stock market, General Motors fell (-1.04%) after revealing asset depreciations of between $5.3 and $5.6 billion linked to its participation in its joint companies with the Chinese manufacturer SAIC.
These accounting measures, which will reduce the group’s results but will have no effect on its cash flow, are part of a major restructuring in the face of fierce competition.
The marketing and customer relations specialist SalesForce was plunging (+8.75%) despite a quarterly net profit slightly lower than expectations.
Investors preferred to retain the turnover, higher than forecasts, and the objectives for the current quarter, also beyond projections.
They were also attracted by the group’s emphasis on artificial intelligence, which allowed it to develop customer relations and commercial prospecting tools that do not require human intervention.
The Foot Locker network of sports shoe stores (-10.49%) plummeted after presenting results considered disappointing and lowering its forecasts for the current quarter.
tu/eb
