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MARKET REVIEW. The New York Stock Exchange ended down on Tuesday, ending without conviction, for lack of catalyst, a month of February rich in twists and turns, which will not have been favorable to equities.
The Toronto Stock Exchange ended slightly lower.
To (re)consult market news
Stock market indices at closing
In Toronto, the S&P/TSX fell 38.94 points (-0.19%) to 20,221.19 points.
In New York, the S&P 500 closed down 12.09 points (-0.30%) at 3,970.15 points.
The Nasdaq fell 11.44 points (-0.10%) to 11,455.54 points.
The DOW retreated 232.39 points (-0.71%) to 32,656.70 points.
The loon retreated from US$0.0034 (-0.4679%) to US$0.7333.
The oil rose US$1.16 (+1.53%) to US$76.84.
L’or advanced US$8.90 (+0.49%) to US$1,833.80.
The bitcoin fell US$174.41 (-0.75%) to US$23,218.22.
The context
After jumping 6.1% in January, the S&P 500 dropped 2.6% in February, weighed down by the prospect of a longer-than-expected period of monetary tightening, justified by US economic activity that refuses to decelerate.
“There was no conviction today, one way or the other,” commented Steve Sosnick of Interactive Brokers. “We spent the session hovering around the balance.”
This hesitation is also explained, he believes, by the fact that Tuesday was the last day of February, a traditionally bad month for equities.
“Markets remain volatile given the uncertainty regarding the final impact of the ongoing proactive monetary tightening,” noted Schwab analysts in a note.
The bond market also had a quiet session, marking a break following last week’s heat wave. The yield on 10-year US government bonds came in at 3.92%, down from 3.91% the day before closing.
Wall Street paid little attention to the day’s macroeconomic indicators, many of which were surprising.
The confidence index measured by the Conference Board trade association notably fell to 102.9 points in February, once morest 106.0 in January, well below the 108.5 points announced by economists.
The results of companies did not give the more the headliner Target (TGT, +1.01% to US$168.50) receiving a “fair” rating, according to Mr. Sosnick, “following several disappointments”.
The supermarket chain published better-than-expected results for the quarter running from November to January. CEO Brian Cornell described a “very delicate context” at the start of the year.
The specialist in aluminum materials Arconic took off (ARNC, +19.48% to US$26.44) following the Wall Street Journal reported a possible takeover by investment firm Apollo Global Management.
The information has benefited the mining companies Cleveland-Cliffs (CLF, +3.44% to US$21.33) and Freeport-McMoRan (FCX, +2.14% to US$40.97), as well as steelmaker US Steel (X, +5,95% à 30,63$ US).
The cruise line Norwegian Cruise Line (NCLH, -10.18% to US$14.82) paid a significantly higher-than-expected net loss in the fourth quarter of 2022, linked to a spike in its costs. The Miami company is nevertheless counting on an occupancy rate of 100% of its cruises in the first quarter.
Manchester United continued to decline (MANU, -0.14% to US$20.75), following several British media reported on the possibility of maintaining control of the Glazer family club, which might opt for the entry of a minority shareholder rather than a sale of all their shares.
Meta advanced (META, +3.19% to US$174.94), the day following CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced the creation of a team dedicated to so-called generative artificial intelligence, i.e. ie capable of generating content in response to questions or queries in everyday language.
The video conferencing platform Zoom (ZM, +1.18% to US$74.59) was driven by better quarterly results than expected by analysts. The group expects to see its growth decelerate even more, around 1% over the year, but is counting on a net profit higher than forecast.
Goldman Sachs was penalized (GS, -3.80% to US$351.65) by comments from executives during the Investor Day on retail banking. The general manager David Solomon indicated that the establishment was studying “strategic alternatives” for this activity, developed in recent years, but whose results are considered unsatisfactory.