New York (AFP)

The New York Stock Exchange was reluctant to open Thursday on the direction to go, between renewed concerns about Sino-US negotiations and better than expected results of several big names on the coast.

Around 13:45 GMT, its flagship index, the Dow Jones Industrial Average, lost 0.21% to 27,129.29 points and the broad index S & P 500 fell 0.12% to 3,043.06 points.

The Nasdaq, with strong technological color, was grappling for its part 0.01%, 8,304.68 points.

Wall Street ended in the green on Wednesday as the US Central Bank (Fed) unsurprisingly lowered its rates and signaled that it would now wait before making any new decision: the Dow Jones had appreciated 0, 43%, the Nasdaq 0.33% and the S & P 500 0.33% to finish at a record.

Investors were particularly reassured by the comments of the president of the institution, Jerome Powell, stressing that there would be no rate hike as there is no significant acceleration of inflation.

The quarterly figures of several heavyweights of Wall Street were also received positively by the brokers Thursday: Apple appeared in the first trade up 1.61%, Facebook 4.08%, Starbucks 0.81% and Lyft of 0.67%.

"Alas, the favorite disruptive element of the moment is back to the maneuver (this Thursday) to explain the reaction of the market without glare to the otherwise rather good news: Bloomberg reports that the Chinese authorities doubt that a trade agreement can be concluded ", notes Patrick O'Hare of Briefing.

"That does not necessarily mean that we will not reach an agreement on the + phase 1+ of the agreement but there are apparently reservations about the possibility of going further until the United States abandons not tariffs and will continue to demand that China make structural changes to do so, "adds the expert.

As if to calm the game, the US president has however indicated on Twitter a few minutes before the opening of the meeting that the place where the partial agreement recently negotiated between Washington and Beijing will be signed will be "announced soon".

Donald Trump and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping were originally to sign the agreement on the sidelines of a summit of the Pacific Rim countries in mid-November, but this event was canceled due to the social crisis that is shaking the country.

Investors were digesting on Thursday various indicators on the health of the world's two largest economies, including the decline in October of Chinese manufacturing activity to its lowest level in eight months.

In the United States, annual inflation in the United States slowed slightly in September to 1.7% against 1.8% year on year the month before.

The Commerce Department also announced that household incomes grew a little faster (+ 0.3%) than their spending (+ 0.2%) in September.

In the bond market, the yield on the 10-year rate on the US debt fell to 1.712%, against 1.772% Wednesday at the close.

© 2019 AFP