New York (AFP)

The New York Stock Exchange traded in loose order Tuesday after opening lower as inflation in the United States in June rose sharply to reach its highest level since 2008 and after record highs the day before.

At 2:15 p.m. GMT, the Dow Jones dropped 0.15%, the Nasdaq rose 0.10%, and the S&P 500 was stable (+ 0.07%).

On Monday, the three Wall Street indices had set new records, attracted by the prospect of exceptional business results.

The Dow Jones finished at 34,996.18 points, up 0.36%, the Nasdaq, with a strong technological coloring, had gathered 0.21% to 14,733.23 points and the broader S&P 500 index 0.35% to 4,384.63 points.

Consumer prices rose 0.9% on the month and 5.4% year-on-year in the United States in June, a peak that had not been reached in almost 13 years.

Analysts were surprised as they expected the CPI price index to lag 0.5% from 0.6% in May.

"The rise in prices has accelerated in a surprise way (...) and the dollar is gaining ground," said Schwab analysts as the greenback advanced 0.47% against the euro to 1.1805 dollars for one. euro.

For Patrick O'Hare of Briefing.com, however, this acceleration in prices could represent "a peak" and should come down as the American Central Bank (Fed) thinks, which predicts that the PCE inflation index over one year will fall back to around by 2.1% in 2022.

Wall Street's reaction was tempered by the opening of the earnings season, which, with the recovery, promises to be one of the best in 25 years.

Beverage and snack giant PepsiCo climbed 2.51% after announcing upward revision to its full-year revenue and profit forecast amid a lull on the frontlines of Covid-19, which has allowed consumer demand to pick up again.

Banks JPMorgan Chase (-1.60%) and Goldman Sachs (-1.50%) were down despite exceeding analysts' expectations.

The first was able to reduce the reserves set aside since the pandemic which boosted its net profit in the second quarter.

The second benefited from strong activity from its investment bankers, called upon for numerous mergers and acquisitions and IPOs.

Boeing lost more than 3% as the aircraft manufacturer announced that it would reduce its production of long-haul 787s in the wake of manufacturing defects discovered last September on a portion of the fuselage of the nose of the aircraft.

The anti-Covid vaccine maker Johnson and Johnson dropped 0.27%.

The US drug agency has warned of an increased risk of developing Guillain-Barré syndrome, a rare neurological disorder, associated with the company's vaccine.

In the bond market, yields on 10-year Treasury bills were down slightly to 1.34% against 1.36% the day before.

© 2021 AFP