New York (AFP)

The New York Stock Exchange ended near equilibrium Monday, hesitating to engage between slightly better than expected US indicators and disappointing statistics on activity in the euro zone.

The Wall Street index, the Dow Jones Industrial Average, appreciated by 0.06% to 26,949.99 points while the Nasdaq, with strong technological color, fell by 0.06%, to 8,122, 46 points.

The broad S & P 500 index dropped 0.01% to 2.991.78 points.

All three indexes last week reported their first weekly loss in one month.

"We opened this morning slightly in the red in reaction to indices on activity in the euro area which were very disappointing, with particularly terrible figures for Germany," said Christopher Low, an economist at FTN Financial.

According to a preliminary index published by the firm IHS Markit, the activity of the private sector in Germany fell in September to its level during the financial crisis of 2008.

This is worse than in the euro zone in September, when the index returned to its lowest level since June 2013.

"There is a growing fear that the European Central Bank will be powerless in the face of the slowdown in the European economy.While the German government is resisting the idea of ​​any fiscal stimulus, there is a feeling that the recession is going to be inevitable in this country, "Low said.

At the same time, a preliminary Markit index on manufacturing activity in the US came out better than expected. "This feeds the idea that the United States manages to avoid the economic troubles that plague the rest of the world," added the specialist.

Investors also remained cautious in the absence of concrete progress in trade negotiations between the United States and China.

At the end of last week, it was enough to announce the cancellation of the visit of a farm in Montana by a Chinese delegation to bend the clues. "This reminds us once again that the market reacts primarily to the commercial relationship between the United States and China," said Art Hogan of National Holdings.

Discussions between Chinese and American negotiators on Thursday and Friday in Washington, before a high-level meeting scheduled for early October in the US capital, were "productive," Friday assured the services of the US Trade Representative's Office ( USTR).

But the outcome of the negotiations remains uncertain.

In the bond market, the 10-year rate on US debt stabilized at 1.720% around 20:25 GMT against 1.722% at the close on Friday.

© 2019 AFP