(New York) The New York Stock Exchange closed higher on Monday, starting a busy week in US inflation and employment indicators after a difficult month.
The Dow Jones Index gained 0.62% to 34,559.98 points, the tech-heavy NASDAQ advanced 0.84% to 13,705.13 points and the S
August, a historically bearish month for Wall Street when stocks got off to a good start into the summer, lived up to its reputation.
At Monday’s open, the Dow Jones was down 3.4% in August, the S
“Equities have regained confidence at the start of the week, thanks in particular to a resurgence in the technology sector,” summarized Patrick Martin de Shaeffer.
Investors digested the speech of Jerome Powell, chairman of the US Federal Reserve (Fed) at the conference in Jackson Hole (Wyoming) on Friday.
The central bank boss warned that the Fed was “ready to raise rates further if necessary” but would do so “cautiously”.
Investors welcomed his confidence in continued US economic growth, with Powell pointing to “robust” consumer spending.
“Looks like he was more optimistic,” said Jack Ablin of Cresset Capital. “That could be a sign that we’re not going to see rates go up any further but that they’re going to stay that way for now,” the analyst said.
In the bond market, yields on ten-year Treasury bills eased to 4.20% from 4.23% at the previous close.
In the equity market, “we’ve had a small streak of decline over the past four to five weeks but that could be what will support the momentum of investors”, urged to buy on the downside, noted Mr. Ablin. .
China also unveiled “market-friendly” stimulus measures, which may have prompted the rise of the day” on Wall Street, he added.
Beijing announced on Sunday the halving of the tax on stock market transactions, a significant measure intended to restore confidence in the world’s second largest stock market.
In addition, trade talks have taken place in Beijing between US Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo and her Chinese counterpart Wang Wentao.
The two countries have agreed to set up a task force to “advance U.S. commercial interests in China,” according to the U.S. Department of Commerce.
This week will also be jam-packed with macroeconomic indicators in the US, including consumer confidence on Tuesday, the second estimate of US Q2 GDP on Wednesday, PCE inflation – a favorite measure of the Fed –, Thursday and finally Friday, the official employment numbers for August.
On the stock side, the stock of diversified industry group 3m climbed 5.22% as the Wall Street Journal reported that the group is close to a deal of up to $5.5 billion to settle related lawsuits to ineffective earplugs intended for the military and manufactured by its subsidiary Aearo Technologies.
U.S.-listed shares of Chinese electric carmaker Xpeng, one of Tesla’s rivals in China, soared 5.31% after the $744 million acquisition of the electric subsidiary of China’s “Uber », Didi.
Tesla stagnated (0.10%).
Taking advantage of Chinese measures, retail giant Alibaba saw its shares soar 2.69%.
The title of Boeing rebounded (1.63%) after several sessions of decline in response to problems with late deliveries from the aircraft manufacturer.
Nvidia, the designer of high-demand chips for artificial intelligence, resumed the upward slope (1.78%).
Strength in energy stocks, fueled by the rise in the price of crude oil to US$80 a barrel, helped the Toronto Stock Exchange’s benchmark index close Monday up nearly 200 points, while the major US stock indices also rose.
The composite index S
In the currency market, the Canadian dollar traded at an average price of 73.55 US cents, up from 73.50 US cents on Friday.