After the first operations, the main index, the Dow Jones industrial, gained 0.39%; the technology-dominant Nasdaq jumped 1.40%; and the S&P 500 – of the 500 largest companies – rose 0.98%.
Wall Street ended lower on Friday after mixed indicators in the United States ahead of a key Federal Reserve (Fed) monetary policy meeting next week.
The Dow Jones index lost 0.49% to 38,714.77 points, the Nasdaq technology index lost 0.96% to 15,973.17 points, and the expanded S&P 500 index lost 0.65% to 5,117.09 points.
The import (+0.3% in February) and export (+0.8%) price indices published on Friday added a dose of concern about inflation “which appears more resistant than we believed at the beginning of the year “, commented Jack Ablin, of Cresset Capital to AFP.
Manufacturing activity in contraction
On the other hand, US industrial production recovered slightly in February due to manufacturing and mining.
Manufacturing in the United States is experiencing more than a year of contraction
Thus, industrial production registered a barely perceptible increase of 0.1%, after falling 0.5% in January.
In addition, consumer confidence in the economy fell in March in the United States, contrary to what analysts expected, according to the first estimate from the University of Michigan for this month, published on Friday.
The index fell 0.4 points compared to February, to 76.5 points.
In addition to these data that cooled spirits, the market is focused on the Fed, which meets Tuesday and Wednesday of next week.
“We are in an inflation environment that took us from the hope of six (interest) rate cuts to three,” Ablin said.
The market does not expect any cuts this week, and in any case, not before June or July.
The Fed’s statement and the subsequent press conference by its president, Jerome Powell, will set the pace for the stock market.
The Fed keeps its rates high to make credit more expensive and thus discourage consumption and investment, in order to lower pressures on prices.
Among the values of the day, technology companies lost their footing. Microsoft lost 2.07%, Alphabet 1.50%, Amazon 2.42%, and Meta 1.57%.
Source: With information from AFP.
