New York (AFP)

Wall Street was up on Wednesday, driven by the strong quarterly results of American retail groups Target and Lowe's: the Dow Jones rose 0.76% at the opening and the Nasdaq was up 0.86%.

Its flagship index, the Dow Jones, gained 0.91%, at 26,198.11 points, around 13:45 GMT.

The Nasdaq, with strong technological color, took 1.01%, at 8,028.64 points, and the expanded S & P 500 index rose by 0.89% to 2,926.45 points.

The New York Stock Exchange ended in the red Tuesday, catching its breath after a start of the week in the green. The Dow Jones lost 0.66% and the Nasdaq 0.68%.

Target released Tuesday quarterly figures higher than analysts expectations. Its stock jumped nearly 17% and traded at $ 100.10, its highest level ever reached.

Lowe's also reported better-than-expected results in the second quarter, benefiting from increased demand in the spring. The title of home and garden specialist was up by almost 12%.

"These are huge progressions but, in reality, they have not moved the markets so much," tempered Patrick O'Hare, of Briefing, who attributes the rise of the main Wall Street indices to investor confidence in the economic health of the United States.

"Target and Lowe's give the market players a positive feeling about US growth prospects or, at least, less negative than during sessions of decline in August," said the expert.

Investors are also waiting for the minutes of the latest monetary policy meeting of the US Federal Reserve (Fed).

Thursday, it will be the turn of the European Central Bank (ECB) to publish the minutes of the last meeting of the Board of Governors.

But the most anticipated meeting of the week is the speech of Fed Chairman Jerome Powell, scheduled for Friday in Jackson Hole (Wyoming), which could give new clues about US monetary policy.

The institution decided in late July to lower its key rates, by a quarter of a percentage point, for the first time since 2008.

The Fed could decide to lower its key interest rates again before the end of the year.

In the bond market, the interest rate on US 10-year debt was 1.59%.

© 2019 AFP