New York (AFP)

The New York Stock Exchange fell on Thursday at the opening, destabilized by rising jobless claims in the United States, a disappointing real estate indicator and a rise in bond rates.

Shortly before 3:00 p.m. GMT, the Dow Jones lost 0.64% to 31,409.34 points.

The Nasdaq, with high technological concentration, dropped 0.96% to 13,830.40 points.

The S&P 500 dropped 0.70% 3,903.67 points.

"It is true that the indices are shaken by the rise in long-term rates", summarized Patrick O'Hare of Briefing.com.

Yields on 10-year Treasuries climbed back to above 1.31% from 1.27% the day before, a sign that investors are worried the economy is overheating with the massive support plan from $ 1.9 trillion forecast which could initiate a resurgence in inflation.

The market was also digesting a series of disappointing indicators.

Unemployment claims rose over one week in the United States, contrary to expectations.

Between February 7 and 13, 861,000 people registered as unemployed, while analysts expected 775,000.

New housing starts, for their part, fell in January, for the first time since August, dropping 6% from December.

As a sign of optimism, however, building permit filings continued to rise.

"The economic front remains obscured, with claims for unemployment benefits that have accelerated surprisingly, housing starts that have fallen much more than expected and import prices stronger than expected," said analysts at Schwab.

Sign of a warming in prices, the import price index for January rose 1.4%, the largest increase since 2012. Even removing oil prices which have risen sharply in recent weeks, the increase in prices imported to the United States is 0.9%.

And growth in manufacturing activity in the Philadelphia area slowed in February, although not as strong as expected.

Another brake on the market Thursday, the distribution giant Walmart, heavyweight of the Dow Jones, weighed down the index with a tumbling 6% title.

Investors were disappointed with weaker-than-expected results despite higher sales, and the poor outlook for the current year.

The discount sign, however, promised aggressive investments to face the new situation of online distribution.

Walmart also plans to increase its employees to reach "an average" of $ 15 per hour, a move that was not necessarily to the taste of Wall Street.

Investors were also going to be attentive to the hearing of a Financial Commission of the Congress Thursday on the saga of the speculative fever GameStop (-2.77%) which agitated the place of New York last month.

© 2021 AFP