New York (AFP)

The New York Stock Exchange slipped sharply into the red on Friday as the earnings season opened and after Joe Biden's stimulus package was announced.

At 3.15pm GMT, the Dow Jones lost 1.03%, the Nasdaq dropped 1% and the S&P 500 as well.

The day before, the Dow Jones had ended down 0.22% to 30.991.52 points.

The Nasdaq, with strong technological coloring, had dropped 0.12% to 13,112.64 points while the S&P 500 had lost 0.38% to 3,795.54 points.

"The markets will on the one hand digest the stimulus package of President-elect Joe Biden which includes more financial assistance to households but also a plethora of mixed results," noted analysts at Schwab.

Joe Biden on Thursday unveiled a new $ 1.9 trillion emergency stimulus package with checks to families, funds to reopen schools, money to speed up tests and vaccines and cash for small businesses.

It remains to convince the elected representatives of Congress to unblock this emergency plan.

The session started with the start of the quarterly earnings season, starting with banks.

While JPMorgan (whose stock fell 1%) posted record profits, those of Citi (-4.20%) and Wells Fargo (-7.38%) were more mixed.

On the economic data front, retail sales in December in the United States, impacted by the pandemic, fell more than expected to -0.7% compared to November.

And consumer confidence, as measured by the University of Michigan, fell further in January.

Industrial production, on the other hand, recovered in December, climbing 1.6% from November, mainly due to the onset of winter and heating costs.

Over one year, it is down 3.6%.

Among the actions, the title Pfizer, which had started in positive territory, slipped 0.70% after the opening while European countries complain of delays in the delivery of the anti-Covid vaccine from the American laboratory.

Fiat Chrysler (FCA) lost 4% as sales of Frenchman PSA, which seals its union with FCA on Saturday to become Stellantis, fell almost 30% in 2020.

Walmart dropped 1.77% after the announcement of the departure of Marc Lore, head of the e-commerce department of the distribution giant.

In the bond market, the 10-year yield on Treasury bills fell to 1.1022% from 1.1292% the day before.

vmt / lo / sr

© 2021 AFP