New York (AFP)

Wall Street, still concerned about economic and health concerns, finished modestly in the green Thursday, after a checkered session and the day after a heavy fall, precipitated by the collapse of the technology sector.

Its flagship index, the Dow Jones Industrial Average, gained 0.20% to 26,815.44 points.

The Nasdaq, with strong technological coloring, advanced 0.37% to 10,672.27 points and the broader S&P 500 index gained 0.30% to 3,246.59 points.

The day before, the New York Stock Exchange had fallen heavily, weighed down by the technology sector.

The DJIA had yielded 1.92% and the Nasdaq 3.02%.

On Thursday, a very slight wind of hope over the possibility of an agreement on new US budget measures blew among investors, giving them a bit of confidence, assured Quincy Krosby of Prudential.

"There was the idea that there was perhaps a restart of negotiations between Republicans and Democrats for an aid program," said this analyst.

US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said he spoke with House Democrat Leader Nancy Pelosi.

"We agree to continue discussing," he told senators.

"It gives hope," commented the analyst at Prudential.

Especially since the parade of officials from the American Central Bank (Fed) continued in Congress, where President Jerome Powell once again insisted that the world's largest economy needed help to anchor the recovery.

As the market reacted in the red to the opening after news of an unexpected rise in weekly jobless claims, the trend reversed with the good news of an acceleration in new home sales in January. August in the United States.

They climbed 4.8% over a month, beating analysts' expectations.

The big tech stocks have picked up again, regaining some of the ground they had lost the day before: Apple grew 1.03%, Microsoft 1.30%, Alphabet (Google's parent company) 0, 92%.

Nikola, the manufacturer of electric trucks, in turmoil for two weeks and affected by the resignation of its founder, had another dark day, collapsing 9.69%.

"Statistically, you should know that September is the most difficult month for the equity market," Ms. Krosby said.

"Any positive news about a future vaccine (against Covid-19, Editor's note) will also be a vaccine for the market, if we can put it that way!", She added.

© 2020 AFP