23:40 – Wall Street finishes up, the Nasdaq to a record

Wall Street ended sharply on Thursday, driven by a relative easing of geopolitical fears on the eve of a salvo of financial results of banks signing the real kickoff of the season results According to the final closing figures, the Nasdaq, with a strong technological component, took 1.39% to 7,823.92 points, to a new record. The Dow Jones Industrial Average index advanced 0.91% to 24,924.89 points. The broad S & P 500 index rose 0.87% to 2,798.29 points. Several observers mentioned the progress made on the NATO budget file to explain the rise in prices. Donald Trump said Thursday that he got the commitment of his allies to accelerate the pace to increase their military spending, declaring "very happy" after a summit of NATO under tension in Brussels. International news took center stage on Thursday before giving way on Friday to a salvo of corporate results that will actually kick off the second quarter earnings season. Data from Citigroup banks (+ 0.88%), JPMorgan Chase (+ 0.43%) and Wells Fargo (-0.07%) are expected before the opening and will precede a large number of quarterly accounts in the coming weeks. For the moment, among "the 30 companies in the S & P 500 (which) have presented their results, investors are encouraged by the fact that over 90% of them have exceeded expectations on both the turnover and profits, "said Sam Stovall of CFRA. "In the first quarter, about 70% of the companies exceeded expectations, and we are heading for the same kind of performance," said Ken Berman of Gorilla Trades. Brokers also took note Thursday of the consumer price index (CPI) for June. Prices rose modestly, pushing annual inflation to its highest level in six years. "But for the moment there is no reason for concern for the Fed," said Chris Low of FTN Financial, the US central bank is responsible for price developments. The bond market was evolving without direction: the yield on the 10-year US debt stabilized at around 8:30 pm GMT at 2.849%, identical to Wednesday's at the close, and the 30-year yield was down to 2.945%, compared to 2.952% at the previous one. closing. (Belga)

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