USA: November inflation at +2.7%, as expected
December 11, 2024
Nasdaq hits 20,000 as inflation data raises Dec rate-cut hopes
December 11, 2024The New York Stock Exchange opened lower on Monday as investors remained cautious ahead of the release of US inflation data this week.
Around 15:20 GMT, the Dow Jones was down 0.06%, the Nasdaq index was down 0.24% and the broader S&P 500 index was down 0.27%.
The market “is likely heading for a mixed session, after posting new highs on Friday for the Nasdaq and S&P 500,” Peter Cardillo of Spartan Capital told AFP.
Both indices ended the week at new records, helped in particular by a higher job creation figure for November.
In addition, the market will now “take a break as investors await inflation data” later this week, the analyst added.
The American market will scrutinize the CPI consumer price index for November on Wednesday, then the PPI producer price index on Thursday, watching for a new rise in inflation.
“A reduction of a quarter of a point” at the end of the next meeting of the American central bank (Fed) on December 17 and 18, “is anticipated”, Mr. Cardillo stressed.
The American market will also keep an eye on the monetary policy decisions of central banks, including those of the European Central Bank (ECB) on Thursday.
Wall Street is also taking into account “the overthrow of the Bashar al-Assad regime in Syria,” Patrick O’Hare of Briefing.com pointed out in a note.
On the bond market, the yield on 10-year US government bonds stood at 4.18%, compared to 4.15% on Friday at the close.
On the stock chart, part of the technology sector was down, including Cisco Systems (-0.52%), Broadcom (-0.31%) and Salesforce (-0.64%), “which puts pressure on the Nasdaq and the S&P 500”, according to Mr. Cardillo.
The semiconductor giant Nvidia fell (-1.98%) after China launched an investigation into the American group for alleged violation of anti-monopoly laws, announced state television CCTV.
The procedure against the semiconductor champion was initiated by the public market regulation services, according to CCTV.
Helped by Beijing’s commitment to continue the country’s recovery, Chinese stocks listed on the New York Stock Exchange soared, like the online commerce giants PDD (+11.90%), Alibaba (+8.90%) and JD.com (+13.78%).
Members of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party, a key decision-making body, announced that they wanted to continue the country’s recovery and adopt “a slightly relaxed monetary policy”, opening the door to a change eagerly awaited by investors.
Chemical group Dow gained ground (+2.98%) after announcing that a fund managed by Australian asset manager Macquarie Asset Management would acquire a 40% stake “in certain assets on the US Gulf Coast”, according to a statement from the group.
Social network Reddit jumped (+6.26%) after being given a good rating by Morgan Stanley.
Also on the corporate front, “investors are expecting key events this week, including the results” of IT services giant Oracle and the semi-wholesale supermarket chain Costco, according to Patrick O’Hare.
