(New York) The New York Stock Exchange was trading in the green on Friday, attempting to close an eighth positive week in a row, supported by new favorable indicators.
Around 11 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Index was up 0.30% ahead of a long Christmas weekend where markets will be closed on Monday.
The tech-heavy NASDAQ advanced 0.50% and the S
The day before, Wall Street had finished higher: the Dow Jones had gained 0.87% to 37,404.35 points, the NASDAQ index had gained 1.26% to 14,963.87 points and the broader S index
The three indices, which reached historic records on Tuesday, should at this rate end the week in positive territory.
So far the S
“It is reasonable to think that the market will not be very dynamic on Friday as traders shift their attention to the long Christmas weekend with the markets closing on Monday,” however noted Patrick O’Hare of Briefing.com.
Several indicators have confirmed the scenario of a “Goldilocks economy”, where inflation manages to be controlled without endangering growth.
Thus the progression of the PCE inflation index in the United States, the favorite measure of the American central bank (Fed) to assess the rise in prices, fell sharply to 2.6% year-on-year in November.
The rise in the underlying index, excluding energy and food, is still above 3% but has slowed more than expected to 3.2% year-on-year from 3.4% the previous month. And over a month, it increased by 0.1%, as expected.
At the same time, household income increased by 0.4% over the month in November but their spending grew less quickly at 0.2%.
Furthermore, orders for durable goods rebounded strongly (5.4%), much more than expected in November, thanks in particular to new aircraft orders.
“Price pressures are easing fastest in the services sector and with inflation continuing to fall over the coming months, rate cuts are looming,” said Michael Pearce of Oxford Economics.
But, according to him, “the markets are going too far in predicting rate cuts from the Fed as early as March.” Instead, he expects them from May.
Ten-year bond rates slipped to 3.86% from 3.88% the day before.
On the value side, Nike stumbled by almost 10% after the sports equipment manufacturer warned that its sales for the 2024 fiscal year ending in May would be weaker than expected, increasing by only 1%.
Brand executives highlighted “risks” in the environment, including “a stronger dollar” and “consumer demand for the holiday season.”
By contagion, the footwear brand Foot Locker lost 3.75%.
The American pharmaceutical group Bristol Myers Squibb (BMS) climbed 4% after announcing its strengthening in psychiatric illnesses with the purchase of the biotech Karuna Therapeutics, also an American company, for $14 billion.
With this operation, BMS intends to get its hands on a molecule in development from Karuna which could treat schizophrenia, but also potentially Alzheimer’s disease.
BMS will acquire all of Karuna’s outstanding shares for $330 per share, a 53% premium to the Dec. 21 closing price. Karuna’s stock was soaring 47% to $317 around 11 a.m. ET.
Space sector services company Rocket Lab took off 21% to $5.38 after winning a $515 million contract with the government to build space vehicles.
