New York (AFP)

The New York Stock Exchange closed higher on Tuesday after the hearing by US senators of the future US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, who called for an ambitious stimulus plan.

The flagship index, the Dow Jones, rose 0.38% to 30,390.52 points and the broader S&P 500 index gained 0.81% to 3,798.91 points.

The Nasdaq gained 1.53% to 13,197.18 points, falling just a stone's throw from its January 8 record.

The index with a strong technological coloring of the New York market was supported by the good health of several digital pillars such as Facebook (+ 3.87%) and Alphabet (+ 3.29%), the parent company of Google.

Last week, Wall Street recorded its first weekly loss in 2021.

In the aftermath of a public holiday in the United States (Martin Luther King Day) and on the eve of the swearing in of Democratic President Joe Biden, Ms. Yellen decided that it was necessary to "think big", imploring American parliamentarians to do not look at the expense in the face of the scale of the economic crisis linked to the pandemic.

Mr Biden presented a massive $ 1.9 trillion emergency aid package last week.

Former Fed President Yellen, who spoke via videoconference, also said she was in favor of the dollar's level being set by the market, where the Trump administration has been pushing for the greenback is depreciated.

“The market is bracing for the new US administration and more budget support,” summed up Peter Cardillo of Spartan Capital Securities.

Investors also digested the results of several major US banks, released before the opening Tuesday.

Goldman Sachs fell (-2.26%) despite the surge in its profits in the last quarter of 2020 thanks to the strong growth of its investment banking activity.

Bank of America also fell (-0.73%) after seeing its fourth quarter 2020 profits decline sharply, affected by low interest rates and the slowdown in its retail banking activity.

After the closing, the streaming platform Netflix, whose number of paying subscribers in the world exceeded 200 million for the first time in the last quarter of 2020, saw its title jump by more than 11% in electronic exchanges.

Among other stocks, the Stellantis group, the result of the marriage between car manufacturers Fiat Chrysler and PSA, made a fanfare debut on Wall Street, climbing nearly 11%.

The manufacturer General Motors soared 9.75% after the announcement of a strategic partnership with the computer giant Microsoft (+ 1.78%) in the field of autonomous cars.

GM's Cruise subsidiary is now valued at more than $ 30 billion (25 billion euros).

The American conglomerate General Electric rose (+ 0.88%) after deciding to freeze pension benefits for its 2,800 employees in the United Kingdom.

Boeing appreciated (+ 3.13%) after the announcement by the European regulator that its 737 MAX model could return to the European sky "next week", 22 months after being grounded following two accidents .

© 2021 AFP