New York (AFP)

The New York Stock Exchange ended sharply higher on Thursday and took the S & P 500 to a new record, driven by a US Central Bank saying it was ready to act when needed and the soaring oil prices.

The broad-based index, which represents the 500 largest companies on Wall Street, rose 0.95% to end at 2,954.18 points.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average index gained 0.94% to 26,753.17 points and the Nasdaq, with strong technological coloration, 0.80% to 8,051.34 points.

While the US president was pushing for lower rates, Fed officials decided Wednesday to leave them unchanged. But the institution also highlighted the worsening of economic "uncertainties" and assured that it will "do the right thing to support the expansion".

There are now more arguments for "a little more accommodating" monetary policy, Fed chief Jerome Powell also said.

Market players are now 100% evaluating the probability of a rate cut in July, according to a tool from the CME platform.

The US 10-year borrowing rate fell below the 2% mark for the first time since 2016. It was moving at around 20:15 GMT GMT to 2013.

But Wall Street brokers generally welcome a lower interest rate, which makes borrowing cheaper for investors, consumers and businesses and, in turn, fueling growth.

The decline in yields on the bond market also tends to make more attractive the assets deemed riskier as equities.

As for the economic statistics of the day, the index of manufacturing activity in the Philadelphia region (northeastern United States) showed that it had almost stagnated in June.

"This disappointing indicator adds to other worrying signals about manufacturing activity (in the United States), and could as such influence the decision on rates next month," said Ken Berman of Gorilla Trades.

The good performance of the indices was stimulated Thursday by the jump of the prices of the black gold: the barrel of oil WTI flew of 5.4% in New York after the destruction of a US drone by Tehran having rekindled the tensions between the United States and Iran.

The energy sector sub-index within the S & P 500 gained 2.21%. Major ExxonMobil gained 1.71%.

? 2019 AFP