Depeche – Wall Street, catching its breath, ends in small decline

NEW YORK (AFP) –

Wall Street ended in a small decline Thursday after a jump the day before, the clues catching their breath and reacting little to the publication of a report of the last meeting of the US central bank (Fed).

At closing, its flagship index, the Dow Jones Industrial Average, lost 0.11% to close at 25,338.84 points.

The Nasdaq, with strong technological color, dropped 0.25% to finish at 7,273.08 points.

The broad S & P 500 index dropped 0.22% to 2,737.83 points.

These three indices paused Thursday after three straight sessions of strong growth.

After a good start to the week, Wall Street accelerated its progress on Wednesday with a speech by Fed President Jerome Powell, many investors seeing in his speech words likely to appease the fears of too much rises aggressive interest rate.

The feeling of appeasement was again observed, but ephemeral, Thursday when the Fed Monetary Committee appeared increasingly divided on the evolution of the future monetary trajectory, according to a report of the meeting. November 8th.

Investors fear a rise rates too fast that can increase too suddenly the cost of credit for individuals and businesses and positively welcome any element signaling a possible slowdown.

The indices moved into positive territory shortly after the minutes of the Fed meeting were broadcast, before finally pulling back as the closing approached.

The lack of greater enthusiasm on Wall Street was also favored by "the uncertainty surrounding the meeting of US and Chinese presidents at the G20," said Bill Lynch of Hinsdale Associates.

Donald Trump and Xi Jinping are scheduled to meet and discuss the trade war on the sidelines of this summit, which begins Friday in Argentina.

"Rumors about the G20 give investors headaches," said Ken Berman of Gorilla Trades.

On the indicators side, year-on-year inflation in the United States remained stable in October, according to the price index based on consumer spending, the Fed's favorite measure for observing rising prices.

"This is further evidence that inflation is not running fast and the Fed does not need to be aggressive in its rate hikes to contain it," said Lynch.

In the bond market, the US 10-year debt rate fell to 3.027% around 21H20 GMT, against 3.059% Wednesday at the close, and the 30 years to 3.325%, against 3.346% the day before.

© 2018 AFP