New York (AFP)

The New York Stock Exchange closed in scattered order on Wednesday, with the Dow Jones Flagship Index hitting a new record, while Nasdaq technology stocks retreated slightly.

According to final figures at the close, the Dow Jones finished up 0.29% to 34,230.34 points, a new high.

The Nasdaq, with strong technological coloring, which had given up almost 2% the day before, again dropped 0.37% to 13,582.42 points.

The S&P 500 remained virtually stable, gaining 0.07%, at 4,167.59 points.

The titles of vaccine manufacturers fell at the end of the session with the announcement that the US administration was in favor of lifting intellectual property protections for vaccines against Covid-19, in order to accelerate their production and distribution.

Moderna, included in the Nasdaq index, plunged 6.19% to $ 162.84.

Novavax, whose vaccine is still under study, yielded almost 5%.

Pfizer stagnated while its German partner BioNtech dropped 3.45%.

Johnson and Johnson lost 0.42%.

The indices had started up "after good news on the side of the results of companies but also of the macro-economy", noted Peter Cardillo, of Spartan Capital Securities.

"Then the Nasdaq weakened again following a rotation," investors repositioning themselves on traditional economy stocks by betting on a recovery in activity.

"The Dow Jones has behaved well, especially the transport sector, driven by hopes of a reopening of the economy," Mr. Cardillo added.

Investors thus regained confidence on Wednesday with the good results of General Motors.

The automaker, which saw its profits jump in the first quarter, confirmed its annual forecast despite the semiconductor shortage.

Its title climbed 4.05% to 57.58 dollars.

The stocks of airlines have gained ground such as Delta (+ 1.19%), United Airlines (+ 0.89%) and American Airlines (+ 0.70%).

In terms of indicators, job creations in the private sector climbed in April in the United States, the vast majority in service companies which have particularly suffered from the crisis, according to the monthly survey of the service firm. to ADP companies.

With 742,000 new jobs, this is a little lower than forecast, but the survey revised upwards by nearly 50,000 the figure for job creation for the previous month.

Official employment figures for April are due on Friday.

The ISM activity index in services continued to advance last month, although the pace of growth weakened due to supply difficulties.

Among the big names in tech, Amazon (-1.25%), Microsoft (-0.53%) and Netflix (-1.41%) have lost ground.

The car rental company Uber ended the session down 3.42% before announcing a reduction in its quarterly loss.

Its price rose more than 1% in electronic exchanges after the close at 51.70 dollars.

© 2021 AFP