(New York) The New York Stock Exchange was trading higher on Thursday, driven by the moderation of central banks which extended their pauses on interest rate increases.
Around 9:55 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones was up 0.23%, the NASDAQ was up 0.61%, the S
The day before, the Dow Jones reached an all-time high, climbing above 37,000 points for the first time in its history, at 37,090.24 points. The technology-dominated NASDAQ gained 1.29% to 14,720.66 points and the S
The American central bank (Fed) has, as expected, left its overnight rates unchanged for the third time in a row.
But above all, the members of the Monetary Committee are now projecting three rate cuts of a quarter of a point next year, a prospect which delights the markets even if bets are open on the start of this reversal of monetary policy.
On Thursday, it was the turn of the Bank of England and the European Central Bank (ECB) to opt for a status quo on rates.
The Bank of England left its key rate unchanged at 5.25% on Thursday, ruling that inflationary pressures persist, and that rates are likely to remain high “for a prolonged period”.
The ECB followed suit, extending the status quo on its rates on Thursday, but leaving it unclear about an upcoming monetary easing while inflation is in sharp decline.
The European Central Bank lowered its inflation forecast for 2024 in the euro zone to 2.7% from 3.2%, subsequently forecasting a continued decline in the index’s progression which would fall below the 2% target. in 2026.
Euphoria spread to the bond market, where government bond prices soared, causing their yields to fall. Thus the rate on ten-year US Treasury bonds fell below 4% for the first time since July. They stood at 3.94% compared to 4.01% the day before.
Another satisfactory indicator: retail sales in the United States in November surprised by their good performance. Thus, purchases by American households increased by 0.3% while analysts expected a further decline after a negative month of October.
On the market, Pfizer laboratories regained 0.73% after losing almost 7% the day before for having revealed disappointing 2024 forecasts. The pharmaceutical group concluded its acquisition of biotech Seagen on Thursday, initiated in March for $43 billion.
The shares of its competitor in the vaccine market, Moderna, soared by 17%. The laboratory hopes that its therapeutic vaccine against skin cancer will be approved as early as 2025, after new positive results announced on Thursday.
Following the increase in retail sales, the shares of store brands were sought after like Macy’s (3%), Kohl’s (5.60%), Nordstrom (4?45%) or Best Buy (2.07 %).
Software group Adobe fell 7% to $581. Adobe posted strong fourth-quarter results with revenue of $5.05 billion. But for the next quarter, the group expects sales of 5.13 billion while analysts were betting on 5.16 billion.
All electric vehicle manufacturers were gaining momentum, starting with Tesla (2.45%), but also Rivian (7.72%) and Nio (5.42%).
Almost all sectors of the S
