New York (AFP)

The New York Stock Exchange opened higher on Friday as traders held their breath before a speech by US Central Bank (Fed) President Jerome Powell, which began at 2 p.m. GMT.

After ending in decline Thursday, the three indices were in the green around 13:55 GMT, the Dow Jones taking 0.27% to 35,308.61 points, the Nasdaq, with a strong technological composition, 0.22% to 14,978.04 points, and the extended S&P 500 index, 0.29% to 4,482.76 points.

"Risk appetite waned on Thursday, but it returns this morning before the Fed chairman's speech," Briefing.com's Patrick O'Hare commented in a note.

Mr. Powell is due to speak at the Central Bank Symposium in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.

Jerome Powell's address "could promote volatility" in the market, Schwab analysts warned in a note.

In fact, the VIX index, which measures market volatility, gradually rose to a level now close to its highest level for the week.

A few minutes before the opening, the president of the Cleveland (Ohio) branch of the Fed, Loretta Mester, and the presidents of those of Philadelphia and Atlanta, Patrick Harker and Raphael Bostic, estimated, in interviews, that the time had come to reduce the economic support measures put in place during the coronavirus pandemic.

Over the past 24 hours, no less than six members of the Fed have made a similar speech.

Still on the macroeconomic side, the PCE index, published on Friday before the market close, showed that prices had increased less in July than in June in the United States, to 0.4% against 0.5%, a figure which confirms observers. which rely on the transitory nature of the current inflationary surge.

In the table of values, the computer manufacturer HP fell (-2.63% to 28.34 dollars) after the publication, Thursday after market close, of a quarterly turnover below expectations.

Managing Director Enrique Lores attributed some of these disappointing sales to the group's supply problems.

HP dragged down its competitor Dell (-4.51% to 96.97 dollars), which if it did better than expected in terms of turnover and net profit, also acknowledged that its chain logistics was under tension, like that of all players in the sector.

Also in the red, the specialist in connected exercise bikes Peloton (-8.65% to 104.23 dollars) suffered from forecasts considered disappointing with in particular the announcement of a significant drop in the price of its most popular model .

Among the increases, the clothing store chain Gap was doing well (+ 0.57% to 26.50 dollars) after the publication Thursday, after market, of a higher quarterly turnover and profit expectations to.

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