New York (AFP) – The New York Stock Exchange ended lower on Monday, unable to find momentum in a market marked by low volumes, amid lackluster corporate results.
The Dow Jones fell 0.11% to 34,411.69 points, the Nasdaq index, with a strong technological flavor, dropped 0.14%, to 13,332.35 points, and the broader S&P index ended close to l balance (-0.02%), at 4,391.69 points.
For analysts at Schwab, the indices ended in the red following a “dull session following a long Easter weekend (Wall Street was closed on Friday) and with European markets closed”.
The New York market thus recorded its lowest trading volume on Monday since December 31, according to provisional figures.
“The market is struggling to find direction right now,” said Adam Sarhan, founder and managing director of 50 Park Investments. “Every time he tries to accelerate, he meets a lot of resistance. (…) He is looking for a catalyst and until he finds one, it is to be expected that this agitation in teeth saw continues.”
The geopolitical and macroeconomic context was, moreover, unfavorable to the stock markets, with an escalation of the war in Ukraine and a new bout of fever for raw materials, oil in particular.
Operators also see the US Central Bank (Fed) accelerator a little more precise every day, which is preparing, in all likelihood, to raise its main rate by half a point at once the next month.
The benchmark yield on ten-year US government bonds rose to 2.87% on Monday, for the first time since December 2018.
The first results of companies, whose season began last week, have not managed, for the moment, to sustainably support the indices.
Although the vast majority of those who published did better than expected in terms of net profit, “the reaction has not been good, even poor”, noted Adam Sarhan. “That tells me that institutional investors are selling following release. And that’s very important.”
The banking sector was nevertheless an exception to this movement on Monday, in the wake of Bank of America (+3.41% to 38.85 dollars), whose results came out above expectations although in decline. Retail banking, with notably an increase in credit volume, offset the slowdown in investment banking.
Following “BofA”, JPMorgan Chase (+1.86%), Citigroup (+2.71%) or Goldman Sachs (2.56%) pulled out of the game.
In a turbulent zone since the announcement of Elon Musk’s stake, Twitter rebounded sharply on Monday, gaining 7.48% to 48.45 dollars.
The platform’s former chief executive and co-founder Jack Dorsey said in a series of tweets on Sunday that the board, which was overwhelmingly opposed to Elon Musk’s takeover, was a point of “malfunction of the business”.
The CEO of Tesla, now a 9.2% shareholder in Twitter, tweeted “Love Me Tender” on Saturday, in reference to an Elvis Presley song, a message that some took as an indication of an upcoming hostile takeover bid.
Sought following last week following encouraging results, airlines caught cold on Monday, like American Airlines (-2.42%), United Airlines (-2.57%) or Southwest (-1.07% ).
The Chinese Uber Didi Chuxing took on a new shine (-18.29% to 2.00 dollars) following the publication on Saturday of a turnover down nearly 13%. It has also set May 23 as the date of the general meeting which should ratify the delisting of the New York Stock Exchange.
Another target of investors, the asset management company Charles Schwab (-9.44% to 74.94 dollars), guilty of having recorded income and profit below expectations and in decline, weighed down by the drop in transactions .
© 2022 AFP
