New York (AFP)
The New York Stock Exchange rose at the opening Thursday, buoyed by better-than-expected results from Intel and American Express in a market that continues to monitor the spread of the Chinese virus.
Around 2:50 p.m. GMT, its flagship index, the Dow Jones Industrial Average, took 0.33% to 29,256.59 points.
The highly technological Nasdaq gained 0.36% to 9,435.78 points and the S&P 500, which represents the 500 largest companies on Wall Street, rose 0.07% to 3,328.00 points.
Wall Street had ended in scattered order Thursday, continuing to react to new information on the epidemic while digesting a salvo of quarterly figures from large companies: the Dow Jones fell by 0.09% while the Nasdaq, with strong technological coloring , had appreciated by 0.20% to end at a new record.
In the middle of the results season, the giant of microprocessors Intel delighted investors by being optimistic for 2020 after exceeding expectations in 2019 thanks to the appetite for data storage. The title jumped 7.60%, benefiting the Dow Jones of which it is a member.
American Express (AmEx), which benefited from the end of year celebrations thanks to an increase in the expenses of the holders of its bank cards, rose by 4.18%.
In addition, "fears related to the spread of the coronavirus, which threatens the Chinese New Year celebrations and led the Chinese authorities to confine several cities in the country, seemed to be subsided (Thursday evening) after the decision of the World Health Organization has yet to declare an international alert, "say analysts at Charles Schwab.
China was stepping up efforts on Friday to contain the spread of the killer virus, which has left 26 dead and infected 830 people, with the confinement of more than 40 million people and the closure of many popular sites.
On the bond market, the 10-year rate on the US debt continued to fall, moving to 1.712% against 1.733% Thursday at the close.
© 2020 AFP