(New York) The New York Stock Exchange took a break on Thursday in its November rebound, concluding with a modest decline just short of equilibrium during a lackluster session weighed down by the energy sector.
The Dow Jones index lost 0.13% to 34,945.47 points, the technology-dominated NASDAQ gained 0.07% to 14,113.67 points and the S
The session was discreet on Thursday after several days during which investors were very encouraged by economic data.
The Department of Labor revealed weekly applications for employment benefits up sharper than expected at 231,000 (13,000), a 12-week high.
“The lesson to be learned from this is that this suits the Federal Reserve (Fed) whose preferred scenario would be to see an easing of the employment market”, which helps in the fight against inflation, indicated Patrick O’Hare of Briefing.com.
On the inflation side, a drop in import prices in October in the United States (-0.8%), led by the fall in energy costs, “is an additional encouraging element on the inflation front. rising prices,” said Matthew Martin, economist for Oxford Economics. This is the first time in three months that import prices have fallen.
Finally, industrial production in October slowed more than expected (-0.6%), notably due to the impact of major strikes in the automobile industry which lasted six weeks.
In the bond market, yields on ten-year notes fell to 4.44% from 4.53% the day before around 4:10 p.m. ET.
Fed Governor Lisa Cook indicated on Thursday that “a soft landing is possible” for the American economy, “with continuing disinflation and a solid labor market.”
On the stock side, those in the energy sector ended up in a bad position as crude prices plunged to their lowest level since the beginning of July in the face of fears over global oil demand.
Chevron lost 1.58%, ExxonMobil -1.15% and ConocoPhillips -2.64%.
Shares of Walmart, the number one hypermarket in the United States, fell 8.09% to $156.05. It must be said that the stock had reached its all-time high the day before while awaiting its results.
The retail giant posted quarterly revenue up 5.2% year-on-year to $160.8 billion, more than expected.
The group raised its annual earnings per share forecast but not as much as expected by the analysts who sanctioned the title.
Chinese online retail giant Alibaba fell 9.14% to $79.11. The group has announced that it is abandoning its plan to spin off its cloud business (remote computing).
Alibaba justifies this announcement by American restrictions on computer chips.
The department store chain Macy’s, on the other hand, was highly sought after (5.67%) after better-than-expected quarterly profits even though sales were down 7% year-on-year.
Amazon (-0.26%), which announced that it would sell new cars on its online platform starting with the South Korean Hyundai, caused the shares of its competitors in the sector to fall. Online car seller Carvana lost 5.21% and Carmax, the used car specialist, dropped 5.55%.
Telecommunications systems group Cisco plunged 9.83% to $48.04 after the group lowered its annual revenue and profit forecasts.
