(New York) The NASDAQ and the S

The Dow Jones index fell 0.09% to 38,712.21 points. The tech-heavy NASDAQ rose 1.53% to 17,608.44 points, setting its 16th record of the year.  

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Investors first celebrated the publication of a CPI consumer price index in the United States which fell slightly in May, to the surprise of analysts.  

Inflation slowed to 3.3% year-on-year from 3.4% in April, a relief after the rebound earlier in the year.

Over one month, prices remained identical to those of April, the evolution of the index being 0%, compared to 0.3% the previous month.  

“This morning’s inflation report was great. Investors responded by sending stocks to the moon and bond yields to the bottom,” summarized José Torres, economist for Interactive Brokers.

This enthusiasm was dampened a little in the second part of the session by the attitude of the Federal Reserve (Fed) which, as expected, left rates unchanged at their high level but also reduced its projections for rate cuts this year.

Now, Fed members see only one overnight rate cut in 2024.

Fed Chairman Jerome Powell warned that data would need to show inflation falling for several months before the rate cut could begin.

The dollar, which had strengthened significantly with the fall of the euro at the start of the week after the European elections, gave up a good part of the ground, with the prospect of a rate cut this year strengthening.

The greenback was down 0.60% against the euro at $1.0806 per euro around 4 p.m. ET.

On the bond market, yields retracted, the two-year yield, the most sensitive to changes in the Fed’s overnight rates, fell to 4.76% compared to 4.83% the day before.

Ten-year rates fell to 4.32% from 4.40% on Tuesday.

On the stock market, Apple continued to be the big star of the market, with investors buying into the anticipated impact on future iPhone and iPad sales of the integration of artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities into its devices.

The Apple group unveiled Apple Intelligence on Monday, its new generative AI nomenclature which will now equip its devices, from the iPhone to the Mac.

Apple shares, which had already gained 7.26% on Tuesday, rose another 2.86%, settling at a record level of $213.07 per share.  

Apple thus briefly passed Microsoft in first place in the world in terms of market capitalization before being overtaken again during the session.

Apple’s market valuation was now worth $3.267 billion and that of Microsoft, which gained 1.94% on Wednesday, was $3.278 billion.  

The two groups are followed by Nvidia, the specialist in chips for AI, which increased by another 3.55% on Wednesday to 125.20 dollars, totaling a capitalization of 3.1 trillion dollars.

The cryptocurrency exchange platform Coinbase stood out (4.41%) in the wake of a slight rise in risk assets, including bitcoin. The cryptocurrency star gained 0.85% to $67,836.

The entertainment group Paramount Global, which owns the American channels CBS and MTV, gained 0.72% as its controlling shareholder, Shari Redstone through the company National Amusements, interrupted merger negotiations with Skydance Media.

The parties “were unable to find a mutually acceptable agreement,” National Amusement said in a statement sent to AFP.