(New York) The New York Stock Exchange concluded a small rise on Friday in a seesaw session where the market finally accommodated without conviction the speech, firm but cautious, of Jerome Powell, president of the American central bank (Fed ).

The Dow Jones Index advanced 0.73% to 34,346.90 points, the tech-heavy NASDAQ rose 0.94% to 13,590.65 points and the S

“The general tone of Mr. Powell’s speech in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, where a meeting of central bankers is taking place, “was one of cautious optimism coupled with a clear determination that we won’t take any chances on the evolution of inflation,” summarized Ian Shepherdson, Chief Economist of Pantheon Macroeconomics.

The Fed chief reiterated that inflation was “too high”. “We stand ready to raise interest rates further if necessary,” he said, adding that the Fed would proceed “cautiously” in reviewing economic data.

“I think Mr. Powell has stayed in line with expectations. He keeps all his options on the table and the evolution of the rates will depend on the economic data”, commented to AFP Joe Manimbo of Convera Financial Services.

Also for Maris Ogg of Tower Bridge Advisors, the Fed boss “just repeated what he said before and brokers are starting to take what he says at face value, which is to say it all depends Datas “.

The portfolio manager believed the market was “low conviction, going back and forth, with little volume.” “Of course, investors were scared before his speech,” she said, referring to the index plunge the day before.

“But I think we’re missing the trend in this time when there’s little economic news until Labor Day,” a widely observed U.S. holiday that falls on Monday, September 4.

Slightly in the green before the Fed boss’s speech, the indices momentarily slipped into negative territory after the speech, only to rise again.

In the bond market, ten-year rates remained flat at 4.23% like the previous day. The dollar strengthened slightly against the euro (0.15%).

On the side, Nvidia, the darling of the artificial intelligence sector which announced much better than expected results on Wednesday, finally dropped the ballast (-2.43%) to 460 dollars.

Chipmaker Marvell Technology fell 6.62% as its second-quarter results came in only slightly above forecasts.

Credit purchase solutions specialist Affirm Holdings soared more than 28% 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 handling of power supply during the deadly Hawaii fires, plunged 18.63%. The operator suspended the payment of a dividend to conserve cash.

Warner Bros. Discovery studios fell 3.39% as they postponed the release of several films, including the highly anticipated sequel to “Dune”, due to the strike action that has paralyzed Hollywood since May.

Grocery delivery platform Instacart has announced that it has filed documents for an IPO on NASDAQ, under the symbol “CART”.

The launch date is not yet known. The group is profitable with a profit of 428 million dollars in 2022 and a turnover which grew by 39% last year to 2.5 billion dollars.

Canada’s main stock index rose on Friday, supported by strength in the energy sector.

The composite index S

In the currency market, the Canadian dollar traded at 73.50 US cents, down from its average price of 73.72 US cents on Thursday.