(New York) The New York Stock Exchange ended on a mixed note on Tuesday, not far from equilibrium, awaiting employment data later in the week while bond yields fell further.
The Dow Jones index lost 0.22% to 36,124.56 points, the NASDAQ gained 0.31% to 14,229.91 points and the S
Ten-year bond yields continued to fall to 4.17% around 4:25 p.m. ET from 4.25% the day before, the lowest since early September.
“Bond yields are responding appropriately to the economic data we’ve had,” said Art Hogan of B. Riley Wealth Management, referring to the Labor Department’s JOLTS survey of U.S. job vacancies.
These fell sharply in October, much more than analysts expected. They amount to 8.7 million compared to 9.4 million in September (revised figure), the lowest in more than two years, showing that the Fed’s monetary policy is cooling the job market.
“This sends the message that we are clearly going to see this job market slow down a little, which is positive for monetary policy and for the Fed’s fight against inflation,” commented Mr. Hogan to AFP .
He said the U.S. job vacancy survey “moved rates in the right direction.”
For Olivia Cross of Capital Economics, the Federal Reserve “can take some reassurance ahead of its meeting next week that inflationary pressures from the labor market are dissipating.”
The Fed’s Monetary Committee meets on December 12 and 13 and investors are almost unanimous in thinking that rates will be left unchanged.
On the stock side, investors remained in a waiting position before knowing more about the official employment figures which will be published on Friday, indicated Art Hogan.
Briefing.com’s Patrick O’Hare said, “The news that Moody’s downgraded China’s credit outlook from stable to negative also dampened some buyer interest.”
On the stock market, technology mega-caps welcomed this decline in rates such as Apple (2.11%), Amazon (1.41%), Alphabet (1.35%).
Shares of drugstore and pharmacy chain CVS gained 3.71% after the group revised its 2024 sales upward to $366 billion. The brand also increased its quarterly dividend by 10%.
The action of American video game developer and publisher Take-Two Interactive fell 0.51% after its studios Rockstar Games put online a first trailer for the next part of “Grand Theft Auto” ( GTA), which is scheduled for release in 2025.
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American Express fell 1.48% after the credit card giant warned it was seeing a slowdown in consumer purchases in October.
Pfizer laboratories saw their stock weaken by 0.65%. Pfizer had to abandon clinical trials of a new obesity drug after numerous side effects.
Wells Fargo bank (-1.40%) said its severance costs for its staff would increase to nearly $1 billion in the fourth quarter.
