New York (AFP)

Wall Street ended up Monday in a market rather confident about the gradual reopening of the economy of many American states despite the persistence of multiple uncertainties.

Its flagship index, the Dow Jones ended in extremis in the green, scrambling 0.11% to 23,749.76 points after spending most of the session in the red.

The Nasdaq, driven by the good health of several tech giants, rose more frankly, gaining 1.23% to 8,710.71 points.

The index benefited in particular from the growth of Microsoft (+ 2.45%), Amazon (+ 1.31%) or even Netflix (+ 3.10%), which have posted generally solid performances since the start of the crisis related to coronavirus.

"When the economy is in a difficult period, companies capable of generating growth are popular," notes Alan Skrainka of Krilogy.

The S&P 500, which represents the 500 largest companies on Wall Street, gained 0.42% to 2,842.74 points.

Investors seemed to welcome the decision of more than 35 of the 50 US states to start lifting or being about to lift strict containment measures.

"We have been presented with two options since the start of the pandemic: shutting down the economy to save lives or reopening the economy to save jobs," said Skrainka.

"I think this is a wrong choice, because there is a third option: it is to open the economy responsibly," he said.

The global toll of the coronavirus however continued to increase with nearly 250,000 deaths worldwide, according to a toll established by AFP from official sources Monday at 7:00 p.m. GMT.

In the United States, multiple epidemiological models suggest that the 100,000 death mark will be crossed by June.

On the economic front, the situation remains extremely precarious, 30 million Americans having applied for unemployment benefit since the start of the Covid-19 crisis.

The market will take cognizance of the monthly employment figures for the United States on Friday in April, the first to take full account of the impact of containment.

- Tensions -

Wall Street was also concerned about the escalating tensions between Washington and Beijing against a backdrop of American accusations surrounding the supposed origin of the new coronavirus.

The airline industry was struggling on Monday, weakened by statements from billionaire investor Warren Buffett.

At the general meeting of his holding company Berkshire Hathaway on Saturday, Mr. Buffett revealed that he had sold in April all his assets held in major American airlines, hit hard by the sharp slowdown in transport.

Consequence on the markets Monday: American Airlines fell 7.71%, Delta Air Lines by 6.43%, United Airlines by 5.11% and Southwest Airlines by 5.71%.

The American meat giant Tyson Foods tumbled 7.82%.

The company said on Monday a sharp decline in its quarterly turnover due to the disruption of the food supply and distribution chain after the closure of several slaughterhouses threatened by the spread of coronavirus.

Donald Trump, however, signed a decree last week ordering factories to slaughter and process cattle, hogs and poultry to stay open despite the pandemic.

On the bond market, the 10-year rate on the US debt rose to 0.6272% against 0.6118% on Friday evening.

© 2020 AFP