New York (AFP)

Wall Street was moving without a clear direction on Wednesday morning, preparing to take notice of a monetary policy decision from the Federal Reserve (Fed) and to welcome, after the close, the quarterly results of Apple and Facebook.

Around 2:00 p.m. GMT, the extended S&P 500 index appreciated 0.18% to 4,194.45 points and the Nasdaq gained 0.13% to 14,108.33 points.

The index of flagship stocks, the Dow Jones Indutrial Average, however, fell 0.48% to 33,821.45 points, weighed down by Boeing.

Fed President Jerome Powell is due to hold a press conference in the afternoon following the US Central Bank (Fed) monetary policy meeting.

"Nobody expects a change in the Fed's key rate or a change in its asset buyback program," said Patrick O'Hare of Briefing.

To support the US economy in the face of the impact of the pandemic, the Fed has lowered its key rates, which have been moving in a range between 0% and 0.25% for more than a year, and is pursuing a policy of quantitative easing by buying back public debt and corporate debt.

"The question mark, or rather the hesitation, lies in the tenor of Mr. Powell's speech and whether or not he is going to make the slightest reference to the possibility of the Fed considering a date to gradually reduce its purchases. assets ", continues the expert.

Market players will also be following closely Joe Biden's speech to Congress in the evening.

The American president must present an ambitious plan of 1,800 billion dollars for education and assistance to families which he intends to finance by canceling tax cuts for the richest and by increasing taxes on capital income for the wealthiest Americans.

After Wall Street closes, US tech giants Apple and Facebook will report quarterly sales and profits.

Tuesday evening, Alphabet (Google) and Microsoft published better than expected results, driven by advertising revenue for the first and the cloud (remote computing) for the second.

Alphabet stock climbed 5.93%, but Microsoft lost 2.78%.

Ahead of the opening on Wednesday, Boeing, a prominent Dow Jones who has suffered from the drop in air traffic since the start of the pandemic, reported a net loss of $ 537 million in the first quarter.

However, the aircraft manufacturer has relied on the return of deliveries of the 737 MAX and vaccination against Covid-19 to rebound.

Its title fell 3.33% on Wall Street.

© 2021 AFP