New York (AFP)

The New York Stock Exchange closed on a positive note Monday, encouraged by the hope of seeing the economy reopen soon, at the start of a week rich in corporate results and meetings of central banks.

Its flagship index, the Dow Jones Industrial Average, gained 1.51% to 24,133.78 points, and the Nasdaq, with a strong technological coloring, 1.11% to 8,730.16 points.

The broader S&P 500 Index, which represents the 500 largest companies on Wall Street, appreciated 1.47% to 2,878.48 points.

"The market is simply delighted to see that certain American states have started to reopen their stores and that it seems that deconfinement is looming in New York," remarks Peter Cardillo of Spartan Capital Securities.

The governor of New York State, epicenter of the pandemic in the United States, indeed announced Sunday the possible reopening of certain manufacturing activities and construction sites after May 15.

Several European countries, Spain and Italy in particular, have also started to restart their economies.

Some experts warned, however, that there was too much optimism.

"The economic indicators to come this week and the continued fall in oil prices should put a stop to this optimism," anticipates Cardillo.

The ratio between the stock prices of companies and their profits is currently higher than in mid-February, before the pandemic hits the American economy hard, said Patrick O'Hare of Briefing.

It is, in his eyes, "an additional indication of the divorce between the market and reality".

Market players were preparing for the publication of numerous results from companies including Boeing (-0.33%), General Electric (+ 2.56%) or tech giants Apple (+ 0.07%), Microsoft (-0.29%), the parent company of Google, Alphabet (-0.27%) and Amazon (-1.42%).

According to FactSet, companies in the S&P 500 are expected to see profits fall by 15.2% on average in the first quarter and their turnover stagnate. The blow should be even harder in the second quarter, analysts currently predicting a 31.9% plunge in profits and an 8.2% drop in turnover.

Market players also welcomed the Bank of Japan's strengthening of its asset buyback programs, a new measure of support for the world's third economic power, a few days before a meeting of the American Central Bank (Fed), Wednesday, and its European counterpart, Thursday.

On the bond market, the 10-year rate on US Treasuries progressed, evolving around 20:20 GMT at 0.6573% against 0.6008% Friday evening.

© 2020 AFP