New York (AFP)

The New York Stock Exchange ended in dispersed order on Tuesday, between the solid results of large companies like JPMorgan Chase, a renewed uncertainty about relations between Washington and Beijing and the idea that the indices are already at a high level.

Its flagship index, the Dow Jones, appreciated by 0.11% to finish at 28,939.67 points.

The Nasdaq (-0.24% at 9,251.33 points) and the S&P 500 (-0.15% at 3,283.15 points), for their part, fell slightly after reaching the eve of new highs.

Before the opening of the session on Tuesday, the banks JPMorgan Chase (+ 1.17%), Citigroup (+ 1.56%) as well as the airline Delta Air Lines (+ 3.29%) kicked off unofficial sending of the quarterly results season by publishing figures exceeding expectations.

The first American bank by assets and member of the Dow Jones, JPMorgan notably recorded in 2019 a record net profit of 36.43 billion dollars.

Other news was also more likely to fuel investor enthusiasm, such as the fact that total exports from China rose 7.6% year-on-year in December, a sign of renewed strength in the second world economic power.

Even the inflation indicator in the United States, which stood at 2.3% in December according to the CPI index published by the Labor Department, was a good omen because "it will not encourage the Reserve to rethink its monetary policy immediately, "said Patrick O'Hare of Briefing.

The indices, on the other hand, were shaken up during the session by an article by the Bloomberg agency affirming that the American administration was probably going to leave in place the current customs tariffs on Chinese goods until the presidential election.

Even if the Trump administration had already given up on imposing new tariffs on China in December and cut in half those imposed on September 1 on $ 120 billion of Chinese goods, the markets hoped that with the partial trade agreement which should be signed on Wednesday, the easing of tensions between the two parties could eventually lead to a more pronounced lowering of customs taxes.

"It brings a little more confusion on the subject," says Karl Haeling of LBBW.

For the specialist, however, the market has above all obeyed a movement of rotation, the investors abandoning certain technological titles having increased considerably in recent times to turn to other sectors.

On the bond market, the rate on the 10-year debt of the United States fell around 21:20 GMT to 1.811%, against 1.846% Monday at the close.

© 2020 AFP