New York (AFP)

The main indices of the New York Stock Exchange ended Thursday at new levels, boosted by the easing of tensions between Washington and Tehran and by commercial optimism a few days before the signing of a Sino-American agreement.

The flagship index of the New York place, the Dow Jones Industrial Average, rose 0.74% to 28,956.90 points.

The highly technological Nasdaq took 0.81% to settle at 9.203.43 points and the broad S&P 500 index gained 0.67% to 3.274.70 points.

After being disoriented on Friday and at the beginning of the week by the renewed tensions between Washington and Tehran, following the assassination by the United States of Iranian general Qassem Soleimani in Baghdad, the market resumed its course forward, the specter of a large-scale confrontation between the two countries which seems to be disappearing in the short term.

"The markets learned their lesson not to react too much to political developments in the Middle East. They remembered that the fall (in stock market indexes) after the missile attack on the refinery in Saudi Arabia in September had was quickly erased, "said Gregori Volokhine of Meeschaert Financial Services.

"While (US President Donald) Trump could have sought confrontation with Iran, he did everything to avoid it after the assassination of Soleimani. the tension that had risen in the Middle East is already closed, "said Mr. Volokhine.

Investors are also preparing for the imminent ratification of the preliminary trade agreement between the United States and China.

The Chinese Ministry of Commerce has confirmed that Deputy Prime Minister Liu He will travel to Washington from January 13 to 15 to sign the text, which was seen as a truce in the China-US trade war that weakened investor confidence and weighs on economic growth.

Donald Trump, for his part, said on Thursday that negotiations for a "phase 2" agreement would begin immediately, but could take some time.

"It is possible that I would like to wait until after the election (presidential in November) to finish everything because by doing this, we could arrive at a slightly better or much better agreement," assured the American president.

"What matters is not that the phase 2 agreement is signed immediately, but that negotiations begin," said Volokhine.

Among the indicators, the number of unemployment benefit claimants in the United States stood at 214,000 last week, down 9,000 from the previous week, according to figures from the Department of Labor.

Market participants will observe the very frequent monthly report on employment and the unemployment rate in the United States on Friday.

On the bond market, the 10-year rate on the American debt was down, to 1.855% around 21:15 GMT against 1.874% the day before at the close.

© 2020 AFP