New York (AFP)

The New York Stock Exchange ended modestly higher on Wednesday, allowing the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 to reach new highs pending the US Central Bank (Fed) conference in Jackson Hole.

According to final results, the Dow Jones index rose 0.11% to 35,405.50 points.

The technology-intensive Nasdaq gained 0.15% to 15,041.86 points, its third record in a row this week.

The S&P 500 rose 0.22% to 4,496.19 points, also a new record after the previous day.

The meeting was carried by good news on the side of the vaccines against the Covid-19 and by a key vote of the House of Representatives on the negotiations around a future adoption of the Biden plan of 3.500 billion dollars for the infrastructures.

Investors were also awaiting a speech by Jerome Powell, head of the Fed, on the state of the economy and monetary policy, during the Jackson Hole (Wyoming) conference on Friday.

"The attitude of investors is hesitant while we are awaiting a key speech from the president of the Fed," said Schwab analysts, the market having been delaying for several weeks to learn more about the evolution of monetary policy and particularly central bank asset purchases.

On the front of the epidemic, the group Johnson and Johnson (-0.63% to 174.29 dollars), manufacturer of a single-dose vaccine, indicated Wednesday that a booster of its serum considerably strengthened immunity against the virus, according to clinical trials.

In addition, the full approval at the beginning of the week of Pfizer's vaccine (-1.78% to 47.52 dollars) by the health authority, the FDA, should "increase the rate of inoculation", noted analysts at Wells Fargo as more companies ask their employees to get vaccinated.

The titles of the two laboratories had risen sharply last week.

The airline Delta Air Lines, which now requires its employees to contribute an additional $ 200 monthly to their health insurance plan if they do not get vaccinated, was hailed on Wall Street (+ 1.85% to 41.28 dollars).

The Moderna laboratory (+ 0.74% to 397.87 dollars), manufacturer of another vaccine against Covid-19, said it had officially filed its request for full authorization with the FDA on Wednesday.

On the macroeconomic level, an indicator of durable goods orders in July exceeded analysts' expectations, despite their decline due to a drop in aircraft orders.

Sporting goods chain Dick's Sporting Goods jumped 13.17% to $ 129.45 after posting record second-quarter results.

On the other hand, that of Nordstrom department stores, whose results remained below their level before the pandemic, was sanctioned, falling 17.64% to 31.14 dollars.

The action of the manufacturer of chips for graphics cards Nvidia met the favor of the investors (+ 1.93% to 222.13 dollars).

While waiting for the Fed boss to speak on monetary policy, the yields on 10-year treasury bills accelerated a little to 1.34% against 1.29% the day before, a plus high in twelve days.

Seven of the eleven sectors of the S&P 500 finished in the green, led by banking and financial stocks (+ 1.21%).

© 2021 AFP