The Dow Jones index advanced 0.29% to 33,684.79 points, the tech-heavy Nasdaq fell 0.43% to 12,031.88 points and the S&P 500 remained stable (0.00%) .
“The market has definitely remained in waiting mode because a lot is brewing between the consumer price index, the producer price index on Thursday and the bank results on Friday,” Steve Sosnick told AFP. chief strategist of Interactive Brokers.
On the bond market, yields on ten-year Treasury bills changed little, at 3.42% around 8:00 p.m. GMT once morest 3.41% the day before.
Analysts expect inflation in the United States, according to the CPI index, to fall to 5.1% over one year, a lowest in almost two years, once morest 6% over twelve months in February. On the month of March alone, it should stick to +0.2% once morest +0.4% the month before.
On the other hand, according to Art Hogan of B. Riley Wealth Management, underlying inflation, excluding volatile sectors such as food and energy, might remain tenacious. It should settle over one year at 5.6% once morest 5.5% in February, showing that the price of services continues to rise.
These figures should support the idea that the US Federal Reserve (Fed) will further tighten monetary policy by a quarter point at its next meeting in early May.
But some Fed officials urge caution in rate hikes. Austan Golsbee, incoming Chicago Fed chairman and voting member of the Currency Committee, said on Tuesday it was necessary to “gather more data and be careful not to raise rates too aggressively.”
The markets will also have at their disposal on Wednesday at 6:00 p.m. GMT the precious report (the “minutes”) of the previous Fed meeting which will give them indications of the state of mind of the Committee when it decided at the end of March to raise interest rates for the ninth time in a row.
Investors were hardly shaken by the gloomy projections of the IMF which, opening its spring meetings, lowered its forecast for global growth to 2.8% for 2023.
“American investors have a knack for ignoring what is happening elsewhere in the world”, quipped Steve Sosnick, noting however that the American bond market had been taking into account, for some time now, a slowdown in the economy “more significant that”.
Listed, vaccine maker Moderna fell 3.06% following acknowledging that its flu vaccine did not show the expected success. The laboratory has also delayed the schedule for the delivery of its vaccine once morest viruses that reach the respiratory system (RSV).
Apple dropped 0.76% to $160.80 as its PC shipments fell in the first quarter. Information from the specialized site Axios also mentioned an antitrust investigation by regulators in France into the computer giant’s application tracking technologies.
Used-car seller CarMax soared 9.58% following reporting better-than-expected fourth-quarter results. On a like-for-like basis, sales fell 22%, while analysts expected a 27% drop.
The aircraft manufacturer Boeing took 0.74% to 212.34 dollars while it delivered 130 aircraft in the first quarter, three more than its European competitor Airbus.
Among the major banks set to report their results on Friday Citigroup rose 1.46%, Wells Fargo 1.92% while JPMorgan Chase rose 0.51%.
