New York (AFP)

Wall Street was close to equilibrium at the start of Friday's session, retaining little hope that further aid measures for the United States' economy materialize before the presidential election on November 3.

Its flagship index, the Dow Jones Industrial Average, gained 0.18% to 28,414.30 points around 13:55 GMT.

The Nasdaq, with strong technological coloring, yielded 0.11% to 11,493.74 points.

The extended S&P 500 index appreciated 0.29% to 3,463.63 points.

The New York Stock Exchange had finished slightly higher Thursday, helped by a salvo of generally positive corporate results: the Dow Jones had taken 0.55% and the Nasdaq had risen by 0.52%.

Stalled for three months, talks between Republicans and Democrats around a second round of aid to American businesses and homes continued on Friday without the market necessarily expecting an agreement between the two camps.

House of Representatives (Democrat) Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin continue to discuss the stimulus package, but Congress may not vote on a compromise - if there is one - until after the 'election, "notes Christopher Low of FHN Financial.

Market players were also able to follow Thursday evening the last presidential debate between Donald Trump and his Democratic opponent Joe Biden, which scrapped on many topics such as the management of the pandemic, the health system or racism in the United States , in a much more civil atmosphere than during their first chaotic confrontation at the end of September.

Among the values ​​of the day, the title of Intel (-10.67%) plummeted after the group announced, Thursday evening, a decline in its quarterly revenues, especially on the side of contracts with companies and governments, that the micro-processor giant attributes to the pandemic.

American Express stock (-2.38%) retreated after plummeting third-quarter profit, due to lower spending by company cardholders since the start of the pandemic, which The vast majority, however, continue to repay their debts.

Next week, Wall Street will closely follow the results of the American digital giants Amazon, Alphabet (the parent company of Google and YouTube), Facebook and Apple, which will publish all their results on Thursday after the close.

The Gilead laboratory (+ 3.96%) took advantage of the permanent authorization granted Thursday by the United States Medicines Agency (FDA) to its antiviral drug remdesivir for hospitalized patients of Covid-19, confirming the conditional authorization granted in May .

© 2020 AFP