New York (AFP)

Wall Street was retreating Tuesday shortly after the opening, as investors were cautious after yesterday's rising close and before a speech by US Central Bank (Fed) boss Jerome Powell late this week.

Its flagship index, the Dow Jones Industrial Average, lost 0.24% to 26,073.42 points, around 13:50 GMT.

The Nasdaq, with strong technological color, released 0.36%, at 7,973.99 points.

The broad S & P 500 index was 0.46%, at 2,910.24 points.

The New York Stock Exchange ended higher on Monday thanks to a lull on the Sino-US trade front, the rise in bond market rates and hopes for economic support measures in Germany and China.

The Dow Jones gained 0.96% and the Nasdaq rose 1.35%.

But in the absence of major economic indicators Tuesday, investors remained on their guard, while the market has been particularly volatile since the beginning of August.

The main indexes of the New York listing have experienced sudden changes, upward or downward, as the development of the trade dispute between Washington and Beijing.

Market players will be able to analyze on Wednesday and Thursday reports on the latest monetary policy meetings of the Fed and the European Central Bank (ECB).

Above all, they are waiting for a speech from Fed President Jerome Powell, expected on Friday, to have new clues about US monetary policy.

The Fed may decide to lower its key rates before the end of the year after having already cut the latter by a quarter of a percentage point at the end of July for the first time since 2008.

A central bank's rate cut is generally seen as a stimulus to the economy, in anticipation of a slowdown in growth.

For his part, Donald Trump exerts maximum pressure on the institution by constantly accusing it of being responsible for the economic slowdown and calling for a one percentage point reduction in the key rate.

"The markets are good, but they are not in great shape, and so is the economy, which could change if there is no way out of the trade war," said National's Art Hogan.

"The news on the trade front has been the main driver on the stock market this month and this should continue for some time," added the expert.

In the bond market, the interest rate on 10-year US Treasury bills was 1.55%, down sharply from the previous day.

© 2019 AFP