New York (AFP)

Wall Street went up Wednesday shortly after the opening, the investors awaiting the details of the Sino-American commercial agreement which must be signed the day and digesting a salvo of results of companies of good behavior.

The flagship index of the New York Stock Exchange, the Dow Jones Industrial Average, took around 14:55 GMT 0.30%, to 29,026.00 points, after having started the session in the red.

The highly technological Nasdaq gained 0.26% to 9,275.58 points, and the broad S&P 500 index rose 0.22% to 3,290.22 points.

Wall Street had ended in scattered order Tuesday, between the solid quarterly figures of big companies like JPMorgan Chase, a renewed uncertainty on the relations between Washington and Beijing and the idea that the indices are already at a high level: the Dow Jones had appreciated by 0.11% while the Nasdaq had dropped 0.24%.

The agreement reached by American and Chinese representatives will normally be signed in the White House at 11:30 local time (16:30 GMT) in the presence of Chinese Vice Premier Liu He.

It must temporarily put an end to the trade war between the first two world economic powers engaged by the American president, Donald Trump, in spring 2018.

"The formalization of this agreement is not in itself a surprise," said Gregori Volokhine, of Meeschaert Financial Services. "On the other hand, we do not yet know what exactly is in the 86-page document which must be released after signing, and there is undoubtedly a little concern about the content of the final document", says the specialist.

Several large companies also announced their results before the opening, the insurer UnitedHealth (+ 2.19%), the asset manager BlackRock (+ 1.71%) and Bank of America (-2.15%). exceeding expectations.

Goldman Sachs' numbers (-0.49%) were more mixed with a 26% drop in net profit to $ 1.72 billion in the fourth quarter.

The supermarket chain Target (-6.47%), on the other hand, surprised by announcing an increase in sales of only 1.4% in November and December.

"Target is one of the few department stores that still seemed immune to Amazon," said Volokhine. "With this disappointment, the idea becomes clear that there are fewer and fewer winners in the distribution sector".

On the bond market, the rate on the 10-year debt of the United States fell to 1.795%, against 1.856% Tuesday at the close.

© 2020 AFP