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New York (AFP) – The volatile and hesitant New York Stock Exchange was up slightly on Tuesday, after falling the day before in the face of weekend protests in China against Covid restrictions.
The Dow Jones index advanced by 0.15%, the Nasdaq by 0.24% and the SP 500 took 0.24% around 3:30 p.m. GMT.
On Monday, concerned about the situation in China, the Dow Jones had lost 1.45% to 33,849.46 points, the Nasdaq index had dropped 1.58% to 11,049.50 points and the broader S&P 500 index had lost 1, 54% to 3,963.94 points.
After focusing on the protests in China that Beijing has begun to suppress, investors turned on Tuesday to domestic concerns more related to the US economy.
“The unrest in China has unnerved global markets, but optimism seems to be regaining the upper hand that the country may ease Covid-related restrictions,” Schwab analysts said.
Beijing has decided to accelerate the vaccination of the elderly against Covid-19, two days after demonstrations in several cities of the country, but also reinforced the police presence in the streets to prevent the gatherings by calling for the “repression of the forces hostile”.
“Market players are currently more attentive to events closer to home, including Jerome Powell’s speech, scheduled for Wednesday,” said Patrick O’Hare of Briefing.com.
The president of the American central bank will give a speech and will be interviewed at a conference, two weeks before the next monetary decision of the Federal Reserve (Fed).
So far the Fed has raised rates by 75 basis points four times in a row to push them up between 3.75% and 4%, but markets are now waiting for the central bank to ease off by raising rates by 50 basis points only.
The index of consumer confidence in the United States, published Tuesday after the opening of the markets, dampened their enthusiasm a little as it deteriorated again in November, to a level close to analysts’ expectations. The Conference Board’s general index fell to 100.2 points in November, from 102.2 points the previous month.
For its part, the Case-Shiller property price index showed a further decline of 1.2% in September, reducing the annual increase to +10.4% against +13% the month before.
Many key indicators are expected over the rest of the week, starting on Wednesday with the Fed’s Beige Book, the last report on the economy before its monetary meeting on December 13 and 14.
On Thursday, investors will be watching consumer spending and PCE inflation for October, the Fed’s favorite barometer for gauging price action.
Finally, the official employment figures for November will be published on Friday.
On the stock market, six out of eleven sectors remained in the green on Tuesday, driven by that of energy while crude prices rose with the hope that China will ease its anti-Covid restrictions, which could revive demand.
Skirmishes between Apple and Elon Musk over the iPhone maker’s alleged threat to remove Tesla boss-acquired Twitter from its app store had little impact on stocks.
Apple was flat, while Tesla took 1.35%.
The shares of Chinese groups listed on Wall Street recovered, such as Alibaba (+5.60%) or Baidu (+6.03%).
On the bond market, rates on 10-year Treasury bills stood at 3.72% against 3.68% the day before.
© 2022 AFP