New York (AFP)

The New York Stock Exchange was in the red Thursday, despite a rebound in retail sales in the United States in August.

At 2:15 p.m. GMT, the Dow Jones lost 0.32%, the Nasdaq dropped 0.56% and the extended S&P 500 index dropped 0.34%.

The day before, the Dow Jones index rose 0.68% to 34,814.39 points.

In the green for the first time in six sessions, the Nasdaq, with high technological concentration, had advanced 0.82% to 15,161.53 points.

The S&P 500 gained 0.85% to 4,480.70 points.

Despite better-than-expected retail sales in August, rising 0.7% as analysts predicted a corresponding decline, investors were skeptical.

“To be fair, there are other factors that are tempering investors,” said Patrick O'Hare of Briefing.com.

He thus cited haphazardly a slowdown in exports to Japan, the risks of bankruptcy of the Chinese real estate giant Evergrande, the negotiations between the Democrats in Washington on the massive plan of investments of 3.500 billion dollars in health, the education and adaptation to climate change, as well as the standoff over the debt ceiling.

In addition to the good retail sales, investors digested "the astonishing rebound in industrial activity in Philadelphia," published by the Fed and "unemployment benefit claims which, if they have increased, have remained close to their low level since. the pandemic, "Schwab analysts also noted.

Manufacturing activity in the highly industrial area of ​​Philadelphia indeed accelerated in September to the surprise of analysts.

The index gained 11 points to climb to 30.7 points, more than forecasts which expected a stable index.

As for weekly jobless claims, they started to rise again in early September, increasing more than expected, due in particular to a catch-up in unfulfilled claims at the end of August due to Hurricane Ida, which hit Louisiana. Between September 5 and 11, 332,000 people registered as unemployed to receive an allowance, 20,000 more than the previous week.

Retail sales performed better than expected in August (+ 0.7% after -1.8% in July).

This shows, according to Chris Low of FHN Financial, "that US consumption is not slowing down as quickly as it seemed to be the previous month and this despite the reduction in stimulus measures and the Delta variant which ultimately did not affect consumers so much. industries fueling retail sales ".

On the stock chart, Timken, a world leader in bearings and transmission parts, fell 4.77% to $ 67.06 after downgrading its sales outlook due to supply issues, among other things. had the potential to weigh on other stocks in the industrial sector.

It lost overall 0.19% shortly after the opening while the materials sector, one of the leaders of the day, dropped 0.89%.

In the bond market, yields on 10-year Treasuries were up 1.33% from 1.29% the day before.

© 2021 AFP