New York (AFP)

The New York Stock Exchange, driven by the US central bank and some tech stars, took the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 to new records on Friday as the Dow Jones returned to its early-year level.

The flagship Wall Street index appreciated 0.57% to 28,653.52 points, closing above its level at the end of 2019.

It thus returns, after the turbulence of March which saw it fall by 37%, in positive territory over the year and joins the Nasdaq and the S&P 500, which are respectively up 30% and 8% compared to early 2020.

On Friday, the Nasdaq gained 0.60% to 11,695.63 points and the S&P 500 rose 0.76% to 3,507.95 points.

The Fed, which has been very supportive of the stock market by pumping trillions of dollars into the financial system at the start of the pandemic, gave an additional boost on Thursday by announcing that inflation could stay above l '2.0% target "for a while" before it kicks in.

This turning point in monetary policy has been well received by brokers in New York, since it implies that interest rates will remain close to zero for a long time to come and that they will be able to continue to borrow at a lower cost.

Some flagship stocks in the technology sector have also helped the trend, such as Microsoft (+ 1.03%) or Alphabet, the parent company of Google (+ 0.67%).

Over the week, the Dow Jones gained 2.6%. The Nasdaq (+ 3.4%) and the S&P 500 (+ 3.3%) ended up for the fifth week in a row.

For Gregori Volokhine of Meeschaert Financial Services, Donald Trump's speech which concluded the Republican convention on Thursday could also have had an effect.

"We get the impression that Trump will do whatever he can to be re-elected and that will come with positive news on vaccines and treatments against Covid, on tax cuts, etc. Something to please the market."

On the indicator side, household spending in the United States slowed in July: slowed down by the resurgence of the Covid-19 pandemic, it only increased by 1.9% after 6.2% in June. But this increase is higher than the 1.5% expected by analysts.

- 18,000 people made redundant -

Household incomes, for their part, increased by 0.4%, again exceeding the expectations of analysts who expected a drop of 0.2%.

On the value front, the soft drink giant Coca-Cola announced Friday a vast reorganization of its services including job cuts and will initially offer 4,000 employees voluntary departures. Its title rose 3.32%.

Hardware makers HP and Dell gained 6.15% and 6.05% respectively after reporting better-than-expected results, boosted by sales of telecommuting computers.

The Moderna laboratory gained 0.19% after confirming negotiations with the Japanese authorities for an order for 40 million doses of its potential vaccine.

Clothing store group Gap gained 0.92% after reporting slightly smaller-than-expected losses. Its online sales notably increased by 95%.

The casino giant MGM Resorts International appreciated 4.60%. Affected by the closure or drop in attendance of its establishments due to the pandemic, he announced on Friday that he was going to lay off 18,000 employees in the United States who are already technically unemployed.

Electric vehicle maker Tesla was down 1.13% to $ 2,213.40. It is after the closing that the price of its share per unit will be divided by five, an operation intended to make it less expensive and therefore more accessible to small shareholders.

On the bond market, the 10-year rate on US debt fell, to 0.7211% against 0.7522% Thursday night.

© 2020 AFP