(New York and Toronto) The New York Stock Exchange interrupted its series of positive sessions on Thursday, the indices concluding in the red after comments from Fed boss Jerome Powell indicating that the American central bank “would not hesitate” to further raise its rates if necessary.

After eight days of progress, the expanded index S

The strength of energy sector stocks allowed the Toronto Stock Exchange to close higher.

The composite index S

On the currency market, the Canadian dollar traded at an average rate of 72.56 US cents, up from 72.48 US cents on Wednesday.

On the New York Mercantile Exchange, crude oil prices rose 41 US cents to US$75.74 per barrel, while natural gas prices fell 7 US cents to US$3.04 per million. of BTUs.

Gold prices gained US$12.00 to US$1,969.80 per ounce and copper prices rose less than US$1 cent to US$3.64 per pound.

“We will not hesitate” to further raise key rates “if necessary” in the face of high inflation, the president of the American Federal Reserve (Fed) warned on Thursday during a conference at the IMF.

The Fed “is committed to achieving monetary policy that is sufficiently restrictive to reduce inflation to 2.0%; “We’re not sure” whether that’s the case, Powell added.

“What he said wasn’t that bad, it was just a different tone. He only said that if inflation did not slow down and the labor market did not relax, the Fed would consider raising rates,” put LBBW analyst Karl Haeling into perspective.

Evercore economist Krishna Guha said Mr. Powell’s statements “should not be interpreted as a substantial change in policy.”

However, bond yields were the first to react to these statements, accelerating their rise after two weeks of easing. The ten-year debt rate climbed to 4.64% from 4.49% the day before around 4:10 p.m. ET.

That of two-year bills, even more sensitive to increases in the Fed’s key rates, accelerated further to 5.03% from 4.93% on Wednesday.

“Sales of bonds,” whose prices fall when their yields rise, “have spread to stocks,” concluded Karl Haeling.

The tension in bond rates was also explained by the lack of success of an issue of 30-year Treasury bonds for $24 billion. “Demand was very poor,” emphasized Karl Haeling.

On the market, Disney soared 6.90% to 90.33 dollars, after the group announced gains in subscribers to its Disney streaming service (7 million) and an increase in its reduction plan. costs to $7.5 billion.

British microprocessor group Arm, a subsidiary of Softbank that recently listed on the New York Stock Exchange, fell 5.18% after delivering quarterly sales forecasts lower than analysts’ forecasts.

The space tourism company Virgin Galactic, which had lost altitude (-10.34% to $1.56) on Wednesday, regained height (18.91%).

The group, which made six flights, reported a smaller loss than expected in the third quarter on revenue of $1.7 million. Richard Branson’s company will also reduce its workforce by 18%, or 185 positions.

The stock of NuScale Power collapsed 33% on the NASDAQ, after the group announced the abandonment of a project to build a small, new generation nuclear reactor in the United States.

Brokerage app Robinhood returned 5.20% to $7.93 after its quarterly revenue fell short of forecasts with orders for cryptoassets falling almost 50%.