New York (AFP)

The New York Stock Exchange hesitated on Thursday an hour after the opening, the Nasdaq again leading the market in the red after already several sessions in a row of losses for technology stocks.

Around 2:30 p.m. GMT, the index with strong technological coloring dropped almost 1%.

The index of flagship stocks Dow Jones tried to remain stable (+ 0.04%) while the S&P 500 lost 0.33%.

On Wednesday, the Dow Jones finished up 0.29% to 34,230.34 points, a new high.

The Nasdaq dropped 0.37% to 13,582.42 points, after almost -2% on Tuesday.

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

"Sector divergence continues," Schwab analysts said.

"The market is torn between the optimism of economic growth", which supports the actions of the traditional economy, "and the uncertainties on when the Fed will modify its very accommodating monetary policy", which weighs down the so-called growth stocks , more sensitive to rising interest rates, like the technology sector, they stressed

On the macroeconomic side, the news was good Thursday with weekly jobless claims down sharply in the United States, falling for the first time since the pandemic below the 500,000 mark.

Investors will be watching the official April employment figures on Friday.

In total, 1 million jobs could have been created over the month, and the unemployment rate is expected to decline slightly, to 5.8% against 6%.

Several members of the American Central Bank (Fed) were due to speak on Thursday, including John Williams of the New York Fed and Raphael Bostic of the Atlanta Fed.

So far, Federal Reserve officials - headed by President Jerome Powell - have ensured that the inflation which is beginning to manifest itself is "temporary" and that neither a rate hike nor a halt in purchases of assets are not the order of the day.

But on Tuesday comments from Janet Yellen, the former Fed boss and current Treasury secretary, about the possibility of raising interest rates to avoid an "overheating" of the economy cast a chill on the market.

On the equity side, the securities of manufacturers of Covid-19 vaccines continued to take water after the US administration said it was in favor of lifting intellectual property protections, in order to accelerate their production and distribution .

The initiative was hailed by many governments and international organizations around the world, from Russia to the United Nations.

Moderna stock, included in the Nasdaq index, plunged 7.4%.

The laboratory also announced mixed results with quarterly sales below expectations but stronger sales for 2021.

Pfizer lost 2.25% while its partner on the anti-Covid-19 vaccine, BioNTech, fell by more than 6 %%.

Novavax, whose vaccine is still under study, dropped 4.51%;

Johnson and Johnson was almost stable (-0.15%).

Uber, the world leader in chauffeur-driven car rentals, lost more than 7% even though the group reduced its quarterly losses, more because of its meal delivery business than travel reservations.

Yields on ten-year Treasuries were down slightly, just below 1.56%.

© 2021 AFP