New York (AFP)

The Dow Jones index and the S&P 500 concluded on new records Wednesday, after those recorded the day before, carried by the slowdown in US inflation in July, even if it remains strong.

The Nasdaq ended up falling again.

According to final figures, the Dow Jones index closed up 0.62% at 35,484.97 points, a new record after that of Tuesday.

The broader S&P 500 index advanced 0.25% to 4,447.70 points, a new high as well.

The Nasdaq, with strong technological coloring and more sensitive to inflation and the outlook for rate hikes, remained in decline for the second session in a row, ending at 14,765.13 points (-0.16%).

The US Department of Labor announced for July inflation of 0.5% in the United States, less than in June (+ 0.9%) and in line with forecasts.

Its pace is stable over one year at 5.4%, according to the CPI index.

"Consumer prices have increased at a slower pace but the increase remains high," summarized analysts at Wells Fargo.

"The stock market is a little reassured at the idea that inflationary pressures may not be so pronounced in the coming months," said Patrick O'Hare of Briefing.com for his part.

"This will fuel the narrative that the + peak of inflation + is behind us," he added.

The day before, the Dow Jones and the S&P 500 had already finished on records, their second in two weeks, welcoming the passage in the Senate of the massive plan of renovation of the infrastructures of Joe Biden.

"Cyclical stocks or traditional economics registered gains, the lingering uncertainty related to the Delta variant being countered by progress in the Senate infrastructure spending programs," noted Schwab analysts.

This investment plan of 1,200 billion dollars over eight years, which will go in particular to transport and broadband, constitutes a new stimulus for the economy.

The text has yet to receive the approval of the House of Representatives.

All sectors of the S&P 500, except healthcare products (-0.94%), concluded in positive territory, starting with materials (+ 1.42%), industrials (+ 1.30%) and financial (+ 1.17%).

Yields on 10-year Treasuries did not show any signs of stress after inflation came out as expected.

They registered at 1.32% instead of 1.34% the day before.

The dollar, which on Tuesday was at its highest in four months against the euro and other major currencies, even lost ground, reassured by the evolution of consumer prices.

Among the values, the giant of construction machinery Caterpillar gained 3.53% taking advantage of the momentum given by the green light from the Senate to the infrastructure plan.

The action of the Moderna laboratory, manufacturer of an anti-Covid 19 vaccine, very volatile in recent sessions after reaching a record on Monday, fell 15.64% to 385.33 dollars.

Rival Pfizer dropped 3.90% to 46.31 dollars.

Apart from Apple (+ 0.18%), most of the big names in tech posted a decline, including Facebook (-0.32%), Amazon (-0.86%) and Google (-0.29% ).

© 2021 AFP