The New York Stock Exchange, which first opened lower on Tuesday, was moving in disorganized fashion following US inflation slowed but less than expected.
The Dow Jones index yielded 0.02%, the technology-dominated Nasdaq gleaned 0.32% following initially losing up to 1% and the S&P 500 0.17% around 3:00 p.m. GMT.
Inflation remained strong in the United States in January, slowing less than expected over one year and even accelerating over the month, for the first time since October, according to the CPI index published on Tuesday.
Consumer prices increased by 6.4% year on year, once morest 6.5% the previous month. This is worse than the 6.2% that was expected. And over just one month, the rise in prices accelerated to 0.5%, following +0.1% in December (revised figure).
Core inflation (excluding food and energy) is also a little more persistent than expected at 0.4% over the month once morest 0.3% expected.
Over one year, food prices continued to rise by 10.1% and those of services even accelerated to +7.2% once morest +7% in December.
“For members of the Fed, this slow decline in inflation only justifies the idea that rates should be kept higher for longer,” said Rubeela Farooqi, chief economist for HFE.
“Policymakers still have work to do to bring inflation back towards the target (of 2%) and are likely to continue raising rates and maintain tight policy for some time,” the analyst added.
“Inflation is a tenacious adversary,” summed up Neil Saunders of Global Data, pointing out that it was “much more persistent than we would like”.
“There is really a risk that 2023 will be another year dominated by rising prices,” warned the expert.
Other more optimistic economists, such as Chris Low of FHN Financial, saw “good news” in the fact that inflation had nevertheless “marked a turning point”.
On the bond market, yields on ten-year Treasury bills at 4.60% and two-year bonds at 3.74% reached their highest for the start of the year around 2:45 p.m. GMT.
As for values, Coca-Cola was stable (+0.31%) following solid results in the 4th quarter, thanks in particular to price increases.
The soda giant’s turnover reached $ 10.1 billion in the last quarter, up 7% on which it generated $ 2 billion in profits. The group expects an equivalent increase in sales in 2023.
Data analysis specialist Palantir, which posted a profit for the first time since its creation in 2033, saw its shares soar 11.30% to 8.47 dollars.
The company posted fourth-quarter net profit of $31 million and expects to be in the green for the whole of 2023.
Tesla shares rose 1.64% to $197.84 around 2:55 p.m. GMT as the brand raised the price of some of its high-end models.
Marriott International was up slightly (+0.64%) following announcing robust results in the 4th quarter, reflecting demand that remains solid.
Airbnb was in the green (+2.26%) pending its results following the market close.
