Wall Street’s entry into the New York Stock Exchange
couple Chuck Mikolajczak
NEW YORK (Archyde.com) – The New York Stock Exchange closed in the green on Thursday following bond yields retreated from their daily highs following comments from a Fed official in favor of a moderate rate hike of the US central bank.
The Dow Jones index gained 341.73 points, or 1.05%, to 33,003.57 points, the S&P 500 gained 29.96 points, or 0.76%, to 3,981.35 points and the Nasdaq Composite 83 .50 points, or 0.73%, to 11,462.98 points.
Raphael Bostic, chairman of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta who is a Fed hawk, called for a “slow and steady” rate hike, adding that the impact of the current monetary tightening may not be tangible only in the spring.
The yield on ten-year Treasury bills, which had just reached its highest level in four months at 4.091% following a further drop in weekly jobless claims, reflecting a buoyant labor market, fell to 4.064%.
The employment and consumer price indicators for the next few days will give investors a clearer idea of the Fed’s intentions at its March 21-22 monetary policy meeting. The markets anticipate a rise of 25 basis points.
On the stock side, Tesla fell 5.85% following a disappointing day of presentation to investors.
Software maker Salesforce jumped 11.5% following a first-quarter revenue forecast beat expectations and the announcement of a doubling of the amount of a share buyback transaction.
The department store chain Macy’s also benefited from the publication of better than expected results for the holiday quarter, gaining more than 11%.
(French version Jean-Stéphane Brosse)
