(New York) The New York Stock Exchange was losing momentum on Friday, moving in mixed order, after a speech by Jerome Powell, chairman of the Federal Reserve, saying that inflation remains “too high” and that the Fed is ” ready to raise rates if necessary.”

After starting unanimously in the green, the clues were changing. THE

“Yes, inflation has slowed since its peak but it remains too high. We stand ready to raise interest rates further if necessary and intend to maintain a tight monetary policy until we are confident that inflation is on a sustainable path towards our target,” said Jerome Powell at the central bankers’ conference in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.

“Jerome Powell spoke and I don’t think one can be too surprised at what was said but it caused some volatility in the markets,” commented Craig Erlam of Oanda.

“Although it is far from certain that there will be another rate hike, brokers are increasingly accepting the idea that rates will remain at this level for longer than expected,” added the analyst. .

For Ian Shepherdson of Pantheon Macroeconomics, “the talk doesn’t add much new.” “The economic data is going in the right direction but not in a definitive way. It’s all about the data. We think they’re done with the rate hikes but it’s still a 60/40 decision,” the expert said.

Last year at the Fed’s annual meeting in the Wyoming mountain resort, Jerome Powell sent markets tumbling when he announced that the fight against inflation – at the time 8.5% -, was going to “paint”.

In eighteen months, the Fed raised rates 11 times to drive them from zero to 5.50%. The cost of mortgages, for example, has risen to a peak in more than twenty years at more than 7.20% for standard thirty-year loans. Inflation stood at 3.2% in July, according to the CPI index.

On the bond market, ten-year rates were almost stable at 4.24%. The dollar advanced more than before Mr. Powell’s speech at 1.0787 dollars per euro (0.21%).

On the side, Nvidia, the darling of the artificial intelligence sector which announced much better than expected results on Wednesday, lost ground (-3.39%) around 11:35 a.m. (Eastern time).

Chipmaker Marvell Technology lost 8% as its second-quarter results came in only slightly above forecasts.

The credit purchase solutions specialist Affirm Holdings soared more than 26% after posting a larger than expected increase in revenue. The company that offers “buy now and pay later” solutions also cut its loss.

Hawaiian Electric, at the center of controversy over its power handling during the deadly Hawaii fires, plunged 16%. The operator suspended the payment of a dividend to conserve cash.

The clothing chain Gap gained 5.40% as the decline in its quarterly sales was less than expected and the brand managed to generate a better than expected profit.

The main Canadian stock index was down late Friday morning.

The composite index S

In the currency market, the Canadian dollar was trading at 73.34 cents US, down from its average price of 73.72 cents US on Thursday.