Wall Street concludes with a small decline

The New York Stock Exchange, slightly in the green throughout the session, finally concluded with a modest loss on Tuesday on the second day of a week rich in economic data but which will be cut short by Good Friday.

The Dow Jones index lost 0.08% to 39,282.33 points, the Nasdaq, with its strong technological coloring, fell 0.42% to 16,315.70 points and the S&P 500 dropped 0.28% to 5,203. 58 points.

“We had mixed macroeconomic data on Tuesday,” commented Peter Cardillo of Spartan Capital.

Durable goods orders in February in the United States increased more than expected (+1.4%), even without the transportation sector (+0.5%).

“After declining in four of the last five quarters, investment in business equipment is starting to recover (…) and I think the recovery still has potential,” said Andrew Hunter of Capital Economics.

Consumer confidence stagnated in March, a better perception of the current situation having been counterbalanced by greater pessimism for the months to come, linked to inflation, but also to the political context in the run-up to the elections. .

The Conference Board index measuring this confidence stood at 104.7 points, roughly the same as in February, the data of which was revised downward to 104.8 points against 106.7 initially announced.

Investors are also awaiting a third assessment of GDP growth in the last quarter of 2023 on Thursday and especially data on inflation with the PCE index, the Fed’s favorite measure, on Friday.

But as the American markets will be closed on Friday and the quarter also ends this week, “we can expect balance sheet cleaning and a lower volume of transactions”, estimated Peter Cardillo.

The analyst doubts that the Dow Jones will be able to reach for the first time in its history the 40,000 point mark which it is very close to.

On the value side, the shares of Trump Media and Technology Group (TMTG), the company which oversees the social network Truth Social and which were listed for the first time on the Nasdaq under the title DJT as “Donald John Trump”, made gains. waves.

Resulting from the merger with Spac, Digital World Acquisition Corporation (DWAC), DJT shares, which climbed more than 50% during the day, finally ended up 16.10% at $57.99, at their lowest. of the session.

This allows the former president and Republican candidate, who owns tens of millions of shares in the merged entity, to instantly increase his wealth by some $4.5 billion on paper.

Some analysts compared the volatility of this new title, very influenced by politics, to that of viral stocks that ignite the enthusiasm of stock marketers, such as GameStop.

The GameStop title of the video game distribution chain ended up 2.51% at $15.50 but fell by 16% in electronic trading after the close.

The company announced a decline in sales in the fourth quarter.

The social network Reddit, listed on the stock market last week at a price of $34, jumped 8.88% to $65.11.

Elsewhere on the stock market, Tesla gained 2.92% but its competitor Rivian lost 1.22% and Lucid 5.48% while the electric vehicle manufacturer Fisker was suspended from trading on Monday after the announcement of the breakup. negotiations with another automobile company likely to bail it out.

Donut manufacturer Krispy Kreme saw its shares rise by 39.36% while the McDonald’s chain (+0.00%) indicated that it would offer these “donuts” on its menu from the second quarter of 2024.

On the bond market, ten-year yields fell to 4.22% compared to 4.24% the day before.