New York (AFP)

The New York Stock Exchange closed sharply higher on Wednesday, recovering after a difficult start to the week and showing reassurance at the sharp rebound in oil prices.

The flagship Wall Street index, the Dow Jones Industrial Average, rose 1.99% to 23,475.82 points.

The highly technological Nasdaq gained 2.29% to 8,495.38 points, and the S&P 500, which represents the 500 largest companies on Wall Street, gained 2.81% to 2,799.31 points.

Wall Street had suffered in the previous two sessions, weighed down by the historic collapse of oil prices, the benchmark contract on a barrel of crude for WTI, listed in New York, having even closed in negative on Monday.

The sharp rise in black gold prices (+ 19% for WTI, + 5.4% for London Brent) eased the New York market place on Wednesday.

According to Maris Ogg of Tower Bridge Advisors, market players "have started to think about the long-term implications of oil at such low prices."

"They realize that even though it will take a long time for the level of reserves to drop, current prices are not sustainable over a longer period," said Ogg.

With the coronavirus pandemic, global oil consumption has collapsed and stocks have filled, approaching saturation in several countries.

- Netflix goes backward -

In addition, the quarterly results of companies listed on the S&P 500 continued.

Netflix announced Tuesday evening that it had attracted nearly 16 million new paid subscribers, an increase largely due to containment measures around the world to limit the spread of the coronavirus.

The streaming giant was however cautious in describing this acceleration as "temporary". Its share fell 2.9% on Wall Street.

Delta Air Lines, which is fighting to survive the Covid-19 pandemic like other American airlines, reported losses of $ 534 million between January and March and announced plans to restructure. Its title lost 2.1%.

The American group Kimberly-Clark reported a big quarterly profit, attributed to a high demand for Kleenex tissues, Cottonelle and Scott toilet paper and Huggies baby diapers powered by containment measures to stem the spread. from Covid-19. Its share rose 2.4%.

Generally scrutinized by investors, "the results have lost their relevance," said Ogg, given the unprecedented context facing the US economy.

"What is more important is what companies have to say about their prospects, but the reality is that it remains unclear," she said.

"The companies that have made projections think that the United States will take more time to reopen its economy than the rest of the world. We are talking about a year to a year and a half", explains Ms. Ogg.

On the bond market, the 10-year rate on US Treasuries stood at 0.6159%, up from the previous day's close.

© 2020 AFP