New York (AFP)

The New York Stock Exchange finished lower Thursday, in need of data or announcements likely to allow it to set new records, despite an opening higher.

The Dow Jones lost 0.43% to 34,879.38 points, the Nasdaq index, 0.25% to 15,248.25 points and the extended S&P 500 index, 0.46% to 4,493.28 points.

The session was marked by round trips between rise and fall for the major indices, as well as a fairly low trading volume.

Shortly after the opening, Wall Street had looked for momentum by relying on an attractive macroeconomic indicator, with weekly jobless claims at the lowest since the start of the pandemic, but it ran out of steam.

"The market is really pulling the rope and it's exhausted," said Tom Cahill, head of investment strategy at Ventura Wealth Management.

"He's struggling to find the energy to keep going up without a significant catalyst," he said.

Two weeks before the next meeting of the American Central Bank (Fed), on September 21 and 22, more than a month before the start of the corporate earnings season for the third quarter, operators are looking for something to guide the Marlet.

The increase in the European Central Bank's (ECB) growth estimates for the euro area, with the announcement of a moderate slowdown in securities purchases to support the European economy, did not help the US stock indexes.

Another wait-and-see factor is the uncertainty surrounding the negotiations in Congress.

Democrats are seeking to finalize the details of the infrastructure investment plan and social reform plan, which would inject nearly $ 5,000 billion into the economy in total.

In addition to the equity markets, the lack of enthusiasm was also seen in the bond market.

The 10-year US government bond rate, a safe haven for investors, fell sharply during the day, to 1.28% against 1.34% the day before, before rising slightly to 1.29% .

In the table of values, the pharmaceutical laboratory Moderna (+ 7.81% to 455.92 dollars) capitalized on the announcement of the development of a hybrid vaccine, both against the coronavirus and the flu.

Conversely, still in the pharmaceutical industry, Biogen slipped (-6.66% to 300.15 dollars) after the statements of its managing director, Michel Vounatsos, who acknowledged that the launch of its new drug Aduhelm, against Alzheimer's disease, had been "slower" than initially anticipated by the laboratory.

After a general pullback on Wednesday, US airlines rebounded Thursday, despite widespread news of downward revisions to their financial targets.

United Airlines (+ 2.31%), Delta Air Lines (+ 3.63%), American Airlines (+ 5.59%) and JetBlue (+ 4.01%) warned that the spread of the Delta variant of the coronavirus had affected passenger traffic.

As for the Canadian-American specialist in high-end sportswear Lululemon Athletica, he profited (+ 10.47% to 420.71 dollars) from the publication of a net profit per share well above expectations.

The group, known for its "leggings" or "yoga pants", significantly raised its revenue and net profit forecasts for its 2021 fiscal year.

In its wake, the group of connected exercise bikes and treadmills Peloton was in good shape (+ 9.83% to 107.08 dollars).

Heckled at the end of August after disappointing quarterly results, Peloton announced Thursday the launch of its own line of sportswear, Peloton Apparel.

© 2021 AFP