Linea Mercati Interview 12/16/24
December 17, 2024Linea Mercati Interview 12/17/24
December 18, 2024The New York Stock Exchange opened lower on Tuesday, cautiously ahead of the start of the two-day monetary policy meeting of the American Central Bank (Fed), at the end of which a new rate cut is expected.
Around 15:00 GMT, the Dow Jones fell 0.46%, the Nasdaq index lost 0.35% and the broader S&P 500 index, 0.36%.
“(Investors) are showing restraint ahead of the Fed and other macroeconomic news of the week,” Peter Cardillo of Spartan Capital told AFP.
Following the Fed’s monetary policy meeting, which kicks off on Tuesday, the vast majority of market players are expecting a new cut of a quarter of a percentage point after the reductions in September and November.
“The market is expecting a quarter-point cut and for (Fed officials) to suggest they’re willing to take a pause,” Cardillo said.
“Right now, there’s a pretty strong consensus for a taper,” said Steve Sosnick of Interactive Brokers. “There’s also a pretty strong consensus that there’s going to be some tougher rhetoric than we’re used to,” he added.
On the indicator front, investors were digesting the latest retail sales figure released Tuesday, which rose 0.7% month-on-month in November. That’s above the 0.5% forecast by economists.
Household spending was notably boosted by a record Black Friday period, while data for October was revised slightly upward, according to figures released Tuesday by the Commerce Department.
The figures “came in slightly above expectations, which shows that consumer purchasing power is quite strong,” Mr. Cardillo noted.
“The question is whether everyone can spend money or whether the imbalance is widening,” Mr. Sosnick stressed.
In addition, industrial production fell by 0.1% month-on-month in November, while analysts had expected an increase of 0.3%, according to the consensus of Market Watch.
In this context, on the bond market, the yield on 10-year U.S. government bonds stood at 4.39%, compared to 4.40% at the close Monday.
On the stock market, the American laboratory Pfizer gained ground (+3.39%). The group announced that it expected its turnover in 2025 to be in the same range as that of the current financial year, for which it confirmed its forecasts of 61 to 64 billion dollars on Tuesday.
On the other hand, net earnings per share excluding exceptional items – the benchmark for the markets – should rise slightly to between 2.80 and 3 dollars in 2025, compared to 2.75 to 2.95 dollars in 2024, according to a press release discussing the company’s outlook for these two financial years.
Broadcom fell sharply (-4.19%) on Tuesday morning, after gaining speed in recent days thanks to its good results and market enthusiasm for artificial intelligence (AI).
Other semiconductor giants were also in the red, such as Nvidia (-2.57%), AMD (-2.05%) and Intel (-1.11%).
Energy supplier Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E) was up slightly (+0.20%), following information from the Wall Street Journal that Joe Biden’s administration had agreed to grant the company a $15 billion loan, in particular to modernize the electricity grid and reduce emissions.
Specializing in photovoltaic equipment, SolarEdge Technologies soared (+13.91%) after a favorable evaluation from Goldman Sachs.
