New York (AFP)

The New York Stock Exchange partially retained its momentum on Tuesday, more optimistic on the evolution of the Delta variant, which led the Nasdaq and the broader S&P 500 index to new records.

According to final results at the close, the Dow Jones remained stable, grabbing 0.09% to 35,366.26 points.

The Nasdaq, with a strong technological concentration, gained 0.52% to 15,019.80 points to a new record after that of the day before.

The S&P 500, up 0.15%, also hit a new high at 4,486.23 points.

“The bulls are back and have defeated the bears that won last week,” summed up Adam Sarhan of 50 Park Investment, using the language of the stock market that equates the bull with the bullish trend of the market in the reverse of the bear, synonymous with a declining market.

According to him, the good results of companies but also the fact that "we may have passed the peak of the spread of the Delta variant" encouraged investors.

"Many titles are up because they hope the worst is over," said the analyst.

"Concerns about the Delta variant appear to be easing, as the number of cases suggests that the spread may be slowing," Schwab analysts also noted.

So "reopening" actions, as they have been called since the pandemic forced closures and slowdowns, were climbing sharply.

This was the case with Airbnb (+ 9.97% to 161.42 dollars), cruise lines like Carnival (+ 4.42% to 23.84 dollars) or Royal Caribbean Group (+ 3.15% to 82.78 dollars) or airlines all up over 3%.

- Pursuit of easy money?

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"There were also a lot of purchases pending the conference organized by the Fed in Jackson Hole (Wyoming)" Friday, noted Mr. Sarhan.

"The market expects the Fed to continue to circulate the easy money," he said.

Investors are watching Jerome Powell, the head of the American Central Bank (Fed), to speak at this annual conference.

His comments on the economy could give clues to the Fed's plans to reduce monetary support by cutting back on asset purchases.

But after fearing a monetary tightening before the end of the year, as the minutes of the last Fed meeting published last week seemed to indicate, more investors now think that the Fed will stay still. accommodating for a while, wary of the impact of the Delta variant on the recovery.

"The market believes that the Fed is not going to mention the reduction in asset purchases this week," said Adam Sarhan.

At the same time in the bond market, yields on 10-year Treasuries climbed to 1.29% from 1.25% the day before.

On the equities side, the energy sector (+ 1.61%) pulled back, while oil prices continued to rise.

On the Nasdaq, cybersecurity firm Palo Alto Networks jumped 18.60% to 441.87 dollars after announcing good results and promising a good year.

In the distribution sector, Best Buy posted an increase of 8.32% to 121.49 dollars.

The electronics and appliance chain reported better-than-expected results and raised its forecast for the rest of the year, a sign that American consumers are back.

The securities of Chinese technology groups, which have suffered in recent weeks from the tightening of regulatory screws on the part of Beijing, have regained strength in favor of investors seeking good deals.

Alibaba finished up 6.61% to $ 171.70 and digital giant Tencent gained 9.49% to $ 62.56.

© 2021 AFP