New York (AFP)

The New York Stock Exchange ended in slight decline Tuesday, after having evolved clearly in the green almost the whole session, in a market struggling to convince itself that the peak of the coronavirus pandemic has been reached.

Its flagship index, the Dow Jones Industrial Average, lost 0.12% to 22,653.86 points.

The highly technological Nasdaq fell 0.33% to 7,887.26 points, and the broad S&P 500 index fell 0.16% to 2,659.41 points.

"The markets are not so rational. They only move on feelings, be it fear or hope," said Gregori Volokhine.

The place New York was thus brought from the opening on Tuesday by signs that the spread of the coronavirus was perhaps about to slow in some countries, a feeling that had already advanced Wall Street the day before.

The Dow Jones thus gained up to 4% during the session.

However, the indices stumbled and went into negative territory just before the close, reacting to news deemed not very reassuring.

The death toll is indeed on the rise Tuesday in several regions of the world, especially in New York State, epicenter of the pandemic in the United States, which recorded a record number of 731 deaths in the last 24 hours.

The coronavirus has killed more than 80,000 people worldwide since its appearance in December in China, according to an assessment established by AFP from official sources Tuesday at 7:00 p.m. GMT.

Economically, the United States government and the Federal Reserve are working hard to deal with the repercussions of the virus.

The Trump administration said on Tuesday that it has initiated further discussions with congressional officials to bring 250 billion dollars in additional cash to small and medium-sized businesses and allow them to pay their workers during the crisis.

This sum would be added to the 350 billion already planned for these companies in the 2.200 billion stimulus plan voted and ratified at the end of March.

The Fed was called to the rescue to facilitate and increase the amount of loans granted by banks to SMEs.

"This deluge of money also makes it possible to say that the disaster is not for tomorrow," reassures Mr. Volokhine.

According to him, this shows that the United States "can maintain a certain level of economic stability as long as unemployed people are paid and companies can pay their expenses and their rents."

On the bond market, the 10-year rate on the American debt rose to 0.7295%, around 8:30 p.m. GMT, against 0.6698% on Monday at the close.

© 2020 AFP