New York (AFP)

The New York Stock Exchange closed modestly on Wednesday, during a quiet end-of-year session, which however allowed the Dow Jones to set a new record.

According to final results, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.24% to 30,409.56 points, setting a new record after that of December 28.

The technology-heavy Nasdaq advanced 0.15% to 12,870.00 points and the extended S&P 500 index rose 0.13% to 3,732.04 points.

"It was a half-hearted session, with investors taking a deep breath after the big gains this past quarter," said Marris Ogg, portfolio manager at Tower Bridge Advisors.

Thursday will be the last session of the year.

Wall Street will be closed Friday for the New Year.

The stock market will have a bright future ahead of it in 2021 if we are to believe Marris Ogg: "the results of companies will be better than what we think in the second part of the year (...) as and when as consumer confidence returns with that of vaccinations against Covid-19, "said the analyst.

The weak dollar, currently at its two-and-a-half-year low, "is obviously going to help US businesses and there is huge support for the economy across the world," she continued adding that for the first time in a long time we were witnessing "a synchronized recovery, whether in the United States, Europe or China".

News on Wednesday of a green light in the UK for the AstraZeneca / Oxford vaccine, which is cheaper and easier to distribute than its rivals, boosted investor morale.

The title of the British laboratory concluded up 0.56% on the New York Stock Exchange.

The market also welcomed an unexpected rebound in manufacturing activity in the Chicago area for December.

Among the actions of the day, Apple lost 0.85% after being unsuccessful in a copyright infringement lawsuit against a computer security company.

Intel dropped 1.30% after a sharp increase the day before, while an activist shareholder advocates the sale of assets within the manufacturer of microprocessors.

Caterpillar climbed 1.92% after favorable comments from analysts.

Tesla climbed 4.32%, again approaching $ 700 per share.

In the bond market, the 10-year yield on Treasury bills was down slightly to 0.9231% from 0.9364% on Tuesday.

© 2020 AFP