New York (AFP)

Wall Street moved in dispersed order Tuesday at the start of the session, investors showing optimism about an upcoming reopening of the US economy while digesting a salvo of quarterly results in halftone.

Around 2:20 GMT, its flagship index, the Dow Jones Industrial Average, took 0.88%, to 24,345.82 points.

The broad S&P 500 index, which represents the 500 largest companies on Wall Street, appreciated by 0.69% to 2,898.35 points.

The Nasdaq, with a strong technological coloring, fell by 0.15% to 8,716.99 points.

The New York Stock Exchange had risen Monday, hoping to tackle the recovery of the world's leading economy, which was halted due to the crisis linked to the new coronavirus: the Dow Jones rose 1.51% and the Nasdaq 1, 11%.

The major New York indices benefited in particular at the start of the week from the feeling, among many market players, that economic activity could gradually resume in the United States.

But analysts remained cautious about this enthusiasm.

"All these discussions on the reopening of the economy in some states, but not in others, raise questions and could, in a way, make things more confused than they already are," warns JJ. Kinahan of TD Ameritrade.

US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin warned Fox Business Tuesday that states that were mismanaged before the crisis will not receive federal aid.

- Fall in consumer confidence -

Several Dow Jones members released their results before the market opened on Tuesday.

The American pharmaceutical company Pfizer has reaffirmed its annual financial targets and ruled out any shortage of drugs despite the coronavirus pandemic, but it saw its net profit fall over a year. Its security was down 1.79%.

Its competitor Merck also did not anticipate a shortage, but warned that measures of containment and social distancing to stem the spread of Covid-19 would affect its financial results for 2020. Its share fell by 4.21%.

The American manufacturer of construction and construction machinery Caterpillar (+ 0.71%), often considered one of the barometers of global growth, confirmed to him that the pandemic would weigh on its annual results but managed to limit the damage between January and March.

The American group 3M, which manufactures highly sought after N95 protective masks to stem the spread of the new coronavirus, saw its quarterly net profit soar by 45% to $ 1.29 billion, thanks in particular to the increase in demand for its medical equipment. Its title climbed 4.07%.

"We are not sure that the positive outlook can be attributed to the results, simply because many companies continue to withdraw their forecasts for 2020," said Patrick O'Hare of Briefing.

This is particularly the case for PepsiCo (+ 1.45%), which justified its decision by evoking the uncertainties hanging over the world economy.

Boeing, Facebook, Microsoft, Apple and Amazon will be reporting on their quarterly health checkup this week.

Among the indicators, consumer confidence in the United States deteriorated sharply in April, for the second month in a row, faced with the crisis linked to the Covid-19 pandemic, according to the Conference Board index published on Tuesday.

On the bond market, the 10-year rate on US treasury bills fell, moving to 0.6318% against 0.6605% Monday evening.

© 2020 AFP