New York (AFP)

The New York Stock Exchange opened higher Friday, continuing its trend of the last sessions and hoping to end the week at new levels.

Around 3:15 p.m. GMT, its flagship index, the Dow Jones Industrial Average, rose 0.28% to 28,455.53 points.

The Nasdaq, with a strong technological coloring, rose by 0.24%, to 8,908.56 points.

The broad S&P 500 index appreciated 0.38% to 3,217.65 points.

The main indices of the New York Stock Exchange had broken new records Thursday, ignoring the impeachment of Donald Trump, synonymous with impeachment proceedings for the American president, and the publication of contrasting indicators: the Dow Jones had won 0, 49% and Nasdaq 0.67%.

"Nothing in the flow of information is likely to disrupt the market. This is why an upward orientation remains the default response" Friday at the start of the session, explains Patrick O'Hare of Briefing.

With no major news, investors turned to the indicators of the day.

The growth of the US economy was confirmed at 2.1% in the third quarter, a fairly sustained pace driven by household consumption while the deterioration in business investment turned out to be less significant than previously announced.

The growth recorded for July-August-September is in line with analysts' expectations.

Annual inflation in November was 1.5%, up slightly from October levels, but still far from the 2% target the US Central Bank considers healthy for the economy .

If we exclude volatile prices in the food and energy sectors, the so-called core inflation indicator fell slightly to 1.6% against 1.7% in October (revised upwards).

- Nike in decline -

In addition, investors were reassured by the vote Thursday evening in the House of Representatives in favor of the new free trade agreement linking the United States, Mexico and Canada (AEUMC).

The text has yet to be ratified by the Senate to enter into force.

"It has been written that the Senate could adopt the USMCA after the impeachment trial (of Donald Trump, editor's note), the latter not being a disruptor for the market," said Mr. O'Hare.

On the Sino-American front, US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin assured CNBC on Thursday that the Trump administration was still planning to sign the trade deal with Beijing in early January.

On the bond market, the 10-year rate on US Treasury bonds rose slightly, to 1.925% against 1.923% on Thursday at the close.

Among the stocks, Nike was down 1.7%. The American sports equipment maker announced Thursday after the closing a profit and a quarterly turnover higher than the expectations, but its sales in North America were lower than the forecasts.

Biogen rose 0.8%. The pharmaceutical group reported on Thursday a new $ 5 billion share buyback program after a similar amount announced in late March.

Facebook was down 0.7%. The social media giant said on Thursday it was investigating a potential data breach by 267 million users, revealed by a cybersecurity researcher.

© 2019 AFP