New York (AFP)
The New York Stock Exchange fell Tuesday at the start of the session the day after a strong increase and after the publication of disappointing figures for retail sales in the United States.
Around 1:55 p.m. GMT, its flagship index, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA), fell 1.29% to 29,564.61 points.
The Nasdaq, with a strong technological coloring, fell 0.41% to 11,875.48 points and the extended S&P 500 index from 0.90% to 3,594.40 points.
Wall Street ended up in the green on Monday, leading the DJIA and the S&P 500 to record highs, in the wake of biotech company Moderna's announcement that its vaccine was 94.5% effective against Covid-19: the DJIA was up 1.60%, the S&P 500 by 1.16%.
The Nasdaq had for its part gained 0.80%.
Retail sales growth in the United States slowed sharply in October compared with September, although it continued for the sixth month in a row, according to data released Tuesday by the Commerce Department.
In October, $ 553.3 billion was spent, an increase of 0.3% compared to September, against 0.5% expected by analysts.
The good quarterly results of Walmart department stores (-1.14%), driven by the surge in online shopping, and Home Depot (-2.69%), which benefited from the growing popularity of DIY among confined Americans , did not initiate an upward trend in New York City.
"Customers have flocked to two of the largest retailers in the country, but that is clearly not enough to drive the stock market up after yesterday's vaccine-related advance," observes JJ Kinahan of TD Ameritrade.
Among the other values of the day, Tesla (+ 11.34%) jumped the day after the announcement of its entry in December in the prestigious S&P 500, which represents for the manufacturer of high-end electric vehicles a milestone and an opportunity to continue walking forward.
The drugstore chains Walgreens (-8.94%) and CVS (-7.52%) fell back sharply after announcements from Amazon (+ 1.24%) on Tuesday.
The e-commerce giant will notably offer a dedicated page allowing the online ordering of drugs prescribed by health professionals.
© 2020 AFP