(New York) The New York Stock Exchange moved in disjointed order on Thursday, hesitating between a series of mixed corporate results and weekly employment data which went in the direction of the objective of the Federal Reserve (Fed).
The Dow Jones index advanced 0.35%, the NASDAQ –– with a strong technological coloring – lost 0.08% and the S&P 500 gained 0.12% around 10:25 a.m. (Eastern time).
“The stock market behaves as if it is a little tired. This is understandable given the flood of information and numerous company results not only since the last close, but also over the last few weeks,” commented Patrick O’Hare of Briefing.com.
On Wednesday, Wall Street had already finished in disarray.
The Dow Jones had gleaned 0.44% to 39,056.39 points, experiencing, in passing, a sixth positive session in a row. The venerable New York index is within reach of its historic closing record, recorded on March 28.
The NASDAQ index lost 0.18% to 16,302.76 points and the broader S&P 500 index ended in balance at 5,187.67 points.
Weekly U.S. jobless claims on Thursday jumped to a nine-month high at 231,000, as analysts expected 214,000 new claim filings.
These data paradoxically gave some relief to the heart of the stock market, which was positioned to start down after several disappointing company results.
An increase in applications for unemployment benefits “could be a sign that labor market conditions are softening,” said Nancy Vanden Houten of Oxford Economics.
Slowing down the job market is one of the objectives of the American Federal Reserve (Fed) in its fight against overheating and inflation. This reassures the stock market which projects a rate cut by the end of the year.
Bond rates eased slightly on Thursday to 4.48%, compared to 4.49% for the ten-year rate.
On the value side, the media group Warner Bros Discovery (WBD) saw its action rise (+2.86% around 10 a.m. Eastern time) despite the publication of disappointing results.
Its quarterly revenue fell 7% to $9.96 billion. The company again recorded a loss.
But WBD also announced a streaming offer in partnership with Discovery which will bring together the Disney+, Hulu and Max platforms, an initiative well received by the market. Warner Bros also indicated that it “hoped” to conclude an agreement to renew the rights with the NBA.
The Airbnb accommodation reservation platform fell 5.67% as it forecast sales lower than analysts expected for the second quarter at a minimum of $2.68 billion.
However, the company claims to be experiencing “robust demand for travel” particularly with the Olympic Games being held this summer in Paris.
The British group Arm, a subsidiary of the Japanese SoftBank and champion of microprocessor architectures, fell 4.35%.
Its quarterly result exceeded expectations with sales of 928 million dollars when analysts were betting on 866 million. But its projections for the year disappointed investors.
The video game platform Roblox collapsed by 21.75%, while it reduced its forecasts for the year. In the first quarter, the company reduced its loss and its turnover increased from 655 million dollars a year ago to 801 million.
reference: www.lapresse.ca