New York (AFP)

The New York Stock Exchange closed higher on Wednesday, supported by the pragmatism of the Federal Reserve which still questions the pace and extent of the US economic recovery, according to the minutes of its last meeting.

The Dow Jones gained 0.30% to 34,681.79 points, the Nasdaq 0.01% to 14,655.06 points and the extended S&P 500 index 0.34% to 4,358.13 points.

The minutes of the last meeting of the members of the Monetary and Financial Committee of the US Central Bank, released on Wednesday, did not reveal any surprises.

"The minutes (minutes) underscore the uncertainty surrounding growth and inflation forecasts," Pantheon Macroeconomics' Ian Shepherdson said in a note.

Regarding inflation, if the members of the Committee said they were surprised by the acceleration in prices, a majority of them recognized that doubt still dominates their medium-term trajectory.

Whether it's growth, prices or the desirability of monetary tightening, "no one is convinced yet," said Christopher Low of FHN Financial.

"Each of the members of the Committee is still trying to make a religion."

Sign of the ambient uncertainty, bond rates continued to retreat, the 10-year American loan approaching 1.30% (1.31%), after having fallen below 1.40% the day before.

Earlier, a report from the Department of Labor had reported a record number of job offers in the United States in May, while noting hiring difficulties in some sectors.

A contrasting picture that constitutes "further confirmation that the Fed is on the right track," concluded Christopher Low.

"They can continue to be patient."

Among stocks, Amazon ended the session on a new record, up 0.57% to 3,696.58 dollars.

The conglomerate, which has taken more than 25% since the beginning of March, continues its march forward, indifferent to the handover between founder Jeff Bezos and Andy Jassy as CEO.

The bad patch continues for the "Chinese Uber", Didi Chuxing, who again dropped 4.64% Wednesday to 11.91 dollars, after having already yielded 18.93% Tuesday and 5.30% Friday.

The market capitalization of the chauffeur-driven passenger vehicle (VTC) platform, under investigation and restrictions by the Chinese regulator, has plummeted by more than $ 20 billion since Thursday.

Several other Chinese stocks also continued their decline on Wednesday, including Full Truck Alliance (-4.23%), also under investigation by Chinese authorities, and Alibaba (-1.70%).

In contrast, the session was good for the cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase, which rose 7.03% to 251.97 dollars, against the backdrop of a rebound in electronic currencies, bitcoin in the first place.

© 2021 AFP