New York (AFP)

The New York Stock Exchange on Tuesday concluded a mixed session pending the outcome of the monetary meeting of the American Central Bank (Fed) on Wednesday and the announcement of the results of big names in tech after the close.

According to final results, the index of flagship stocks Dow Jones remained stable at 33,984.93 points (+ 0.01%).

The Nasdaq, with strong technological coloring, ended down 0.34% to 14,090.22 points.

The S&P 500, which hit a new record during the session, finally fell 0.02% to 4,186.72 points.

"The market was very hesitant while awaiting the announcements of company results," as the parent company of Google (Alphabet) and Microsoft presented their quarterly results at the close, said Karl Haeling of LBBW.

The analyst pointed out that investors tended to bet higher on the securities of large groups until before the announcement of their results and to take their profits afterwards.

In electronic exchanges, immediately after the close, the share of Alphabet (Google) climbed however by 4% while its profit almost tripled in the first quarter thanks to advertising and the "cloud".

Markets also remained on hold ahead of the outcome of the Federal Reserve's Monetary Committee meeting on Wednesday and the press conference of President Jerome Powell.

"Nobody thinks the Fed is going to do anything but if there is a surprise it will probably be bearish for the market," said Karl Haeling.

The Fed should maintain its accommodative monetary policy and its very low key rates that it deems necessary to help the sustainable recovery of the US economy even if inflation pressures are felt.

Yields on 10-year Treasury bills, sensitive to rising prices, climbed more than 3% on Tuesday to 1.62%.

"There is a big upward movement on the commodity side that reminds people of these inflationary pressures," Haeling said, citing "skyrocketing grain prices, as well as timber and copper prices. "which has reached a new high these days in a decade.

Among the groups which announced their results before the opening of Wall Street on Tuesday, the American 3M, manufacturer among other things of protective equipment against the Covid-19 and member of the Dow Jones, saw its turnover swell by 10%.

But leaving its annual forecasts unchanged, its title lost 2.59%.

The American package and parcel transport giant UPS also unveiled a quarterly turnover up sharply (+ 27%) thanks to the surge in online commerce, in the United States as well as in the rest of the world.

The stock jumped 10.42%.

The conglomerate General Electric (GE) confirmed its forecasts for the whole year but its turnover, weighed down by the lower activity of its divisions devoted to aviation and health, disappointed.

The action was down 0.59%.

On Wednesday, it will be the turn of Apple and Facebook in particular to publish their results.

Amazon will unveil its own on Thursday.

© 2021 AFP