Wall Street opens in scattered order, calm market for a shortened session

On July 3rd 2023 at 1:30 p.m. (UT) Updated on July 03, 2023 at 2:27 p.m. (UT)

The New York Stock Exchange opened Monday on a mixed note, at the start of the first session of the third quarter, a day that promises to be calm because it is stuck between a weekend and a holiday in the United States.

Around 2:10 p.m., the Dow Jones crumbled by 0.07%, the Nasdaq index took 0.26% and the broader index nibbled 0.03%.

Due to the proximity to the national holiday marking the declaration of independence of the United States, Tuesday, the closing was brought forward to 5:00 p.m. GMT.

In the first half of the year, the S&P 500 rose 15.9%, the Nasdaq 31.7% and the Dow Jones just 3.8%. In the case of the Nasdaq, this is the best performance for the first part of a year for 40 years.

“We have a few indicators on the program (ISM activity index in June in the manufacturing sector in particular), but it’s a shortened session,” commented Peter Cardillo, of Spartan Capital.

“So I don’t expect to see much movement, with a contrasting close,” the analyst added.

“With limited volumes, there is not much conviction” to buy or sell at the start of the session, abounded, in a note, Patrick O’Hare, of Briefing.com.

After an end to the second quarter marked by an upturn for stocks located outside the technology sector, investors are wondering about the direction that the New York market will take during the summer, against a backdrop of economic slowdown and monetary tightening. expected.

“Wednesday and Thursday, we should have a better overview of what the quarter will look like,” anticipates Peter Cardillo.

Trading was also limited on the bond market, which changed little. The yield on 10-year US government bonds stood at 3.80%, against 3.83% on Friday at the close.

The market continues to question the aggressive rhetoric of the US central bank (Fed), which is leaning towards several rate hikes between now and the end of the year.

“For the moment, we are concentrating on the Fed, but within ten days, the market will focus on corporate results”, announces Peter Cardillo. “For him to continue his momentum, we are going to need good results and, even more so, forecasts that are not too negative.”

On the side, the animation was provided by Tesla (+ 7.15%). The electric vehicle manufacturer jumped after reporting on Sunday that deliveries and units produced were significantly above expectations for the second quarter.

The Austin (Texas) group produced 920,000 vehicles in the first half, just over half of its target of 1.8 million that it has set for the year 2023.

While the Chinese market was announced to be moribund, local competitors of Tesla, NIO (+4.38%), Li Auto (+6.31%) or XPeng (+4.81%) all also published sales figures up sharply in June.

Helped by the recovery in crude oil prices, oil stocks continued to advance, like ExxonMobil (+0.29%) or ConocoPhillips (+0.56%).

Saudi Arabia announced on Monday the extension in August of the reduction of its production by one million barrels per day, started in July, while Russia has pledged to cut its exports by 500,000 barrels, also next month. .

On the cryptocurrency front, stocks in the sector were in demand, as several financial companies submitted a new application to the US Securities and Exchange Authority, the SEC, for permission to launch an index fund or ETF (which follows the performance of securities or an index) indexed to bitcoin.

The Coinbase cryptocurrency exchange platform jumped (+11.20%), as well as the “mining” specialists Marathon Digital (+6.49%) and Riot Platforms (+6.47%).