New York (AFP)

The New York Stock Exchange, which started the first session of the month in the green, cooled at the close, with the Dow Jones ending in negative territory after disappointing manufacturing figures in China.

According to final figures, the Dow Jones index lost 0.28% to 34,838.16 points and the S&P 500 dropped 0.18% to 4,387.16 points.

The Nasdaq index, with strong technological coloring, remained stable, gaining 0.06% to 14,681.07 points.

"The market started to rise but it ended up partially in the red, due to the fall in bond yields", a sign that investors are looking for bonds and their status as a safe haven, noted Peter Cardillo of Spartan Capital Securities.

The rates on ten-year Treasury bills, which move inversely to the price of securities, fell to their lowest level since early February to 1.1740% against 1.2223% on Friday.

Markets were worried about global growth when a manufacturing index in China showed activity in July bordering on contraction.

According to an independent index released on Monday which confirms the trend of the official index, manufacturing activity fell in China in July to its lowest level in 15 months.

The purchasing managers activity index (PMI), calculated by the firm IHS Markit, stood at 50.3 points in July against 51.3 points in June, a result lower than analysts' predictions.

A figure above 50 indicates an expansion of the activity and, below, it indicates a contraction.

In the United States, growth in the manufacturing sector also slowed in July to 59.5% from 60.6% the previous month, another sign that caught the attention of investors.

"The economy is cooling in China and investors are becoming cautious, fearing the possibility of slower growth" of the world economy, said Peter Cardillo.

In terms of shares, the title of electronic payments group Square jumped 10.17% to 272.41 dollars after the surprise announcement on Sunday of the takeover of Afterpay, a specialist in credit payment after delivery, for 29 billion of dollars.

For Square, led by the boss of Twitter, Jack Dorsey, the merger with the Australian start-up which is adopted by 16 million users in several countries "is a chance to capitalize on the changes underway in the world of credit traditional, and particularly targeting young people, "said Art Hogan of National Securities.

Credit card group Global Payments fell 11.18% after positive results but which did not impress analysts.

Amazon, which had weighed down the Nasdaq on Friday by losing 7.56% because of sales and disappointing prospects, stabilized at 3,331.48 dollars (+ 0.12%).

The share of warehouse logistics group GXO Logistics, IPO Monday, ended up 8.74% to 63.07 dollars for its first listing.

The online brokerage platform Robinhood, which ended its first trading session lower on Thursday, concluded up 7.20%, close to its IPO price of $ 38.

The stock of electric car maker Tesla, which last week said it broke the billion-dollar quarterly profit mark for the first time, climbed 3.27% to $ 709.67.

© 2021 AFP