New York (AFP)

The New York Stock Exchange finally ended in the green on Friday after a hesitant session marked by contrasting indicators on the health of the American economy and a renewed tension between China and the United States.

Its flagship index, the Dow Jones Industrial Average, appreciated by 0.25% to 23,685.42 points and the Nasdaq, with strong technological coloring, by 0.79% to 9,014.56 points.

The S&P 500, which represents the 500 largest companies on Wall Street, gained 0.39% to 2,863.70 points.

Over the week, the Dow Jones lost 2.7%, the Nasdaq 1.2% and the S&P 500 2.3%.

Indices fell sharply first Friday after the release of statistics further illustrating the devastating effect of restrictive measures imposed to halt the spread of Covid-19 disease.

Retail sales in the United States plummeted 16.4% in April, still weighed down by forced closings of non-essential stores.

Industrial production plunged 11.2% in April across the country.

However, an encouraging sign is that consumer confidence improved in the United States in early May, according to a survey by the University of Michigan, which attributes this optimism to the government aid received to deal with the economic impact of the pandemic.

The indices rallied after the release of this indicator during the session.

"We say every week that we are going to have the start of a marked decline, and the market never ceases to amaze us," remarks Gregori Volokhine of Meeschaert Financial Services.

Above all, it is the apparently unconditional support of the American Central Bank (Fed) which supports the indices according to him.

On the one hand, the institution continues to inject liquidity into the market to ensure that it functions properly.

On the other hand, she assured that she would buy back corporate bonds if there was a problem. "So we are no longer worried about all solvent companies, and this brings their actions back up," explains Mr. Volokhine.

Investors were still disturbed at the start of the session by new tensions between China and the United States.

The Trump administration has announced a series of measures to curb the ability of the Chinese group Huawei - which it considers a threat to national security - to develop semiconductors abroad with American technology.

The actions of multinationals particularly exposed if China decided to retaliate, such as Boeing (-2.06%) and Apple (-0.60%), fell.

On the bond market, the 10-year rate on the US debt rose, moving around 8:15 p.m. GMT at 0.6379% against 0.6218% Thursday evening.

© 2020 AFP