New York (AFP)

The New York Stock Exchange ended the week slightly higher on Friday in a market closely observing the acceleration of US inflation and preparing for a long weekend in the United States.

The Dow Jones rose 0.19% to 34,530.37 points, the Nasdaq gleaned 0.09% to 13,748.74 points and the broader S&P 500 index gained 0.08% to 4,204.28 points, approaching of his record.

The major indices ended the last May session in the green, but leveled off shortly before the close.

For the month as a whole, the Dow Jones appreciated by 1.93% and the S&P 500 by 0.55%, while the Nasdaq was down 1.53%.

Like the main US financial markets, Wall Street will be closed Monday for Memorial Day and will reopen Tuesday morning.

Before Friday's opening, investors learned about a 3.6% rise in consumer prices in the United States in April on an annual basis, according to the Commerce Department's PCE index.

Without volatile energy and food prices, inflation is 3.1%, its highest rate since 1992.

This acceleration raises questions on the market, especially since the PCE index serves as a benchmark for the Federal Reserve (Fed) and can allow it to adjust its decisions.

"The whole question is to know when the market will judge that the Fed is about to tighten its monetary policy", explains Peter Hanks, strategist for IG.

The expert thinks the Fed could send signals about an upward revision of its key rates or a slowdown in its asset buyback program on the occasion of its meeting on June 15 and 16 or its annual conference in Jackson Hole (Wyoming) in late August.

Several listed companies also published their results Thursday evening, including software publisher Salesforce (+ 5.43%) and beauty products specialist Ulta Beauty (+ 5.18%), both of which easily exceeded market expectations.

Among the other values ​​of the day, Boeing was down 1.47%.

The manufacturer has again interrupted deliveries of its long-haul 787 Dreamliner in time to send the United States aviation regulator, the FAA, additional information following production problems.

After soaring by nearly 30% at the start of the session, the chain of cinemas AMC ran out of steam and ended up down 1.51%.

However, it climbed 116% over the week and jumped 1.132% since January.

Despite the faltering financial health of the company, the AMC share is, like that of the video game distributor GameStop (-12.64%), prized by an army of stock marketers, very active on a forum on the Reddit site. .

In the bond market, the 10-year rate on US Treasuries was down to 1.58% from 1.61% the night before.

© 2021 AFP