(New York) The New York Stock Exchange ended Tuesday mixed, lackluster and looking for direction before the first corporate results announcements on Friday.
The day after strong gains for the New York indices, the Dow Jones lost 0.42% to 37,525.16 points, the NASDAQ, with a strong technological coloring, nibbled 0.09% to 14,857.71 points while the expanded index S
“The market is waiting for a positive catalyst and this should be the company results,” assured Adam Sarhan, of 50 Park Investments, recalling that the quarterly accounts of large banks will be published on Friday, including Bank of America (-1.55% ), JPMorgan (-0.79%) and Wells Fargo (-1.26%).
“After a weak start to the year,” with the first week of 2024 having been negative for Wall Street, “markets are struggling to find direction and are looking for a new catalyst that could come earnings season , but also the Federal Reserve or the economy,” the analyst continued.
In the bond market, rates have settled down a bit, moving at 4 p.m. (Eastern time) around 4.01% compared to 4.03% the day before for ten-year yields.
On the stock market, the aircraft manufacturer Boeing continued to suffer the repercussions of the latest setbacks for its Boeing 737 MAX 9.
The stock fell 1.41% to $225.76 after crashing more than 8% on Monday.
Following the mid-flight separation of an aircraft door on an Alaska Airlines aircraft on Friday, dozens of Boeing 737 MAX aircraft were grounded for inspection.
In addition, initial inspections of other companies operating these jets revealed loose components on United Airlines aircraft.
United, which operates the world’s largest fleet of 737 MAX 9s with 79 aircraft, discovered “bolts that needed to be tightened” during checks on the condemned doors of its 737 MAX 9s, the same as the one torn off on Friday.
United gained 1.44%.
Several warnings of declines in turnover from technology groups have also dampened investor sentiment.
“A warning on Microchip Technology’s fourth quarter revenue linked to a weakening economic environment and the fact that Samsung Electronics indicates that its operating profit will be down 35% year-over-year in the fourth quarter” is likely to spark “sales in the semiconductor sector,” said Patrick O’Hare of Briefing.com.
Microchip Technology fell 0.35%. But Nvidia, the designer of powerful microprocessors for artificial intelligence, which fell up to 0.80% during the session, accelerated to a new record at $531.40 (1.70%).
Among the other “Magnificent Seven” in tech, Apple fell 0.23%, Tesla fell 2.28% but Alphabet (Google) rose 1.44%.
Router and network equipment maker Juniper Network soared 21.81% as Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) reportedly prepares its acquisition for some $13 billion, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Video game software provider Unity Software has informed SEC regulators of its intention to cut 1,800 jobs or 25% of its workforce as part of a restructuring. The stock dropped almost 8%.
On the macroeconomic front, the Commerce Department announced a reduction in the trade deficit in November, a sign of a slight slowdown in the US economy.
The U.S. goods and services deficit with the rest of the world reached $63.2 billion, down 2 percent from the previous month.
The most important indicator of the week will be inflation with the CPI price index for December in the United States being released on Thursday. It is expected to show a monthly rise of 0.3%, according to analysts.
