New York (AFP)

The New York Stock Exchange ended in broken order on Monday, torn between optimism surrounding the start of the Covid-19 vaccination campaign in the United States and fears of further restrictions in the country.

The flagship Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0.62% to 29,861.55 points and the broader S&P 500 index lost 0.44% to 3,647.49 points.

The Nasdaq, with a strong technological color, on the other hand appreciated by 0.50% to 12,440.04 points.

Wall Street got off to a good start, welcoming the launch of a vast vaccination campaign against the virus in the United States, the country most affected by the pandemic with more than 300,000 deaths according to the latest statement from Johns Hopkins University.

The hope of a compromise in Congress on a new stimulus package had also boosted the market.

A group of Democratic and Republican lawmakers are due to present a bill with $ 908 billion for homes and businesses, for a vote this week.

But the Dow Jones and the S&P 500 fell in the second half of the session after statements from New York Mayor Bill de Blasio hinting that a complete city shutdown, similar to that of March, was not was not to be ruled out to contain the spread of the virus.

"This warning has likely caused wider concerns about lockdowns elsewhere" in the country, note analysts at Briefing.com.

Fears over similar measures in Europe have also floundered the New York Stock Exchange.

In addition, several listed companies took advantage of a wave of mergers and acquisitions announcements on Monday.

The American biotech Alexion (+ 29.20%), specializing in rare diseases, was bought for 39 billion dollars by the British pharmaceutical group AstraZeneca.

The American video game giant Electronic Arts (+ 1.28%) has offered 945 million pounds to buy the British group Codemasters.

The software site for vocational training PluralSight (+ 6.38%) was bought for 3.5 billion dollars by the investment company Vista Equity Partners.

Blackstone (-1.14%) for its part fell after announcing its intention to spend 3.45 billion to buy the buildings housing research laboratories in Boston from Brookfield Asset Management.

The rest of the week on Wall Street will be animated by the last monetary policy meeting of the Federal Reserve (Fed), which will be held Tuesday and Wednesday.

In the bond market, the 10-year yield on Treasuries ended in equilibrium, holding at 0.8964%.

© 2020 AFP