New York (AFP)

The New York Stock Exchange hit new records on Thursday, galvanized by advances on the commercial front, American indicators of good performance and the solid results of Morgan Stanley.

Its flagship index, the Dow Jones, appreciated by 0.92% to finish at 29,297.64 points.

The highly technological Nasdaq gained 1.06% to close at 9.357.13 points and the S&P 500, which represents the 500 largest companies on Wall Street, gained 0.84% ​​to finish at 3.316.81 points .

Investors had already warmly welcomed on Wednesday the preliminary agreement signed at the White House between Washington and Beijing, which aims to rebalance trade between the two major economic powers.

And on Thursday, the US Congress definitively ratified the new free trade agreement linking the United States, Mexico and Canada (AEUMC).

"The many uncertainties that hung over the market last year have largely dissipated," notes Maris Ogg of Tower Bridge Advisors.

Besides the fact that trade agreements have been signed, making it more difficult to turn back the clock, "economic data in Europe seems to be improving a bit and the monetary policies of the European and Chinese central banks seem to be starting to bear fruit", she says.

"We have to wait to see what all of the fourth quarter corporate results will give but we have probably overcome the worst of the small slowdown we encountered last year and the market breathes a collective sigh of relief" says Mrs. Ogg.

Today's statistics on the US economy were solid in this regard.

Retail sales in the United States rose 0.3% in December compared to the previous month, despite a slight increase in wages.

Weekly claims for unemployment benefits in the United States fell more than expected, while manufacturing activity in the Philadelphia area accelerated sharply in January.

Another encouraging news on Thursday: Morgan Stanley ended the 2019 earnings season of the big US banks on a positive note, posting record profits and turnover. Its title jumped 6.60%.

Driven by ambient optimism, technological stocks have also particularly progressed, like Google’s parent company Alphabet, which for the first time has crossed the symbolic threshold of $ 1,000 billion in stock market valuation.

On the bond market, the rate on the 10-year debt of the United States rose to 1.806%, against 1.783% Wednesday at the close.

© 2020 AFP