The New York Stock Exchange ended lower on Tuesday, made morose by the refrain of the recession and anxious before the publication of a new inflation indicator on Wednesday and a first wave of corporate results at the end of the week.
The Dow Jones lost 0.62%, the Nasdaq index, dominated by technology stocks, fell 0.95%, and the broader S&P 500 index fell 0.92%.
The indices looked for direction for a long time on Tuesday, oscillating between green and red, before choosing descent.
For Edward Moya, the dominant theme remains “concerns about growth”, while investors noted several bad indicators on Tuesday.
In the United States, the NFIB index, which measures the morale of small businesses, came out at 89.5, well below expectations and the lowest in nine years.
In Germany, investor sentiment has plunged to a level best known since 2011, according to the ZEW Barometer.
The general sentiment was also reflected in the slide in oil, which lost more than 7% in a single session.
Most stocks in the oil sector were caught in this bad wind, like Marathon Oil (-3.10%) and Occidental Petroleum (-3.61%).
Although they hesitated a lot, the New York stock market indices nevertheless remained within narrow margins around the balance, demonstrating a general wait-and-see attitude before the publication, on Wednesday, of the CPI price index for June. .
Expected slightly above that of May (8.8% against 8.6% over one year), it should provide information on the trajectory of inflation, on which the American central bank (Fed) is riveted, decided to curb soaring prices.
“We can expect an upside surprise, linked to the jump in gasoline prices last month,” Ed Yardeni of Yardeni Research said in a note.
“Stock prices are at the mercy of inflation and earnings,” said Terry Sandven of US Bank Wealth Management.
Wall Street is also expecting a first salvo of financial publications from American banks on Thursday and Friday, which traditionally marks the start of the earnings season.
“This is clearly a week in which there are a lot of sources of concern,” insisted Art Hogan, of B. Riley Wealth Management.
“Results have held up well since the beginning of the year, but seem destined for a downward revision,” according to Terry Sandven. Beyond that, “equity prices should not rise significantly until inflation is under control.”
On the bond market, rates eased again on Tuesday. The yield on 10-year government bonds stood at 2.97%, against 2.99% the day before. It remains below the 2-year rate, a rare phenomenon considered by many to be the harbinger of a medium-term recession.
On the side, Boeing was sought (+ 7.42% to 147.15 dollars), after reporting the delivery of 51 aircraft in June, its best total in more than three years.
The food giant PepsiCo was shunned (+0.57% to 169.50 dollars), despite the publication of a turnover and a net profit above expectations. The group, which was driven by snacks and cereals, raised its sales growth forecast for the entire financial year, excluding acquisitions.
After hitting its lowest in four months on Monday, Twitter rebounded (+4.32% to 34.06 dollars), while the management of the social network told Elon Musk that it considered his renunciation as “invalid and unjustified”.
Gap plunged (-5.02% to 8.32 dollars) after the textile group announced the departure of general manager Sonia Syngal, whose strategic initiatives failed to recover sales.
The company, which includes the Gap, Old Navy, Banana Republic and Athleta brands, further warned that it expects sales to decline 5-10% in the second quarter (May-July), as well as zero or slightly negative operating margin.