New York (AFP)

The New York Stock Exchange traded in scattered order on Friday shortly after the opening, catching its breath after a hectic week, but also concerned about the ban on cryptocurrencies by the Chinese authorities.

Around 2:15 p.m. GMT, the Dow Jones gained 0.07% to 34,787.47 points.

The Nasdaq index, which includes many technology stocks, lost 0.51% to 14,975.52 points, and the extended S&P 500 index was almost at equilibrium (-0.01%), at 4,448.65 points.

"The market is digesting after a volatile week," observed Adam Sarhan, founder and CEO of management company 50 Park Investments.

After a stall on Monday, then a rebound on Wednesday and Thursday, the indices returned to their levels of the weekend.

“I think today is profit taking after a big rebound,” explained the manager.

The specter of Chinese real estate developer Evergrande is no longer an ulterior motive for operators, even if the group has not communicated anything about a dollar debt deadline set Thursday.

China was gaining more investor attention as a result of the central bank's decision to declare all cryptocurrency financial transactions illegal.

On Wall Street, most of the stocks linked to the crypto-asset universe were taking the news, in particular the exchange platform Coinbase (-2.30% to 232.04 dollars) or the Robinhood broker (-1.21% to 45 , $ 39).

"This puts pressure on stocks [in general] because it could lead to further restrictions" on the part of the Chinese authorities, in particular on assets deemed to be at risk, argued Adam Sarhan.

For the manager, the market was also dragged down by some bad microeconomic news, such as the publication deemed disappointing from Nike, Thursday after market close.

The comma mark slipped at the opening (-6.26% to 149.59 dollars), after lowering, on Thursday, its revenue forecasts for the postponed fiscal year 2021-22 (ended at the end of May).

The sports equipment manufacturer is now counting on a 5% growth in sales, against 10 to 15% so far.

A revision due to logistical problems, in particular the temporary closure of factories in Vietnam and Indonesia due to a health crisis.

If it benefited from the publication of a net profit and a turnover above expectations, the supermarket chain Costco (+ 2.21% to 462.78 dollars) also helped to calm the enthusiasm of the supermarket market. made up of supply difficulties and inflationary pressures.

The Meredith media group, which publishes People magazine in particular, soared (+ 26.84% to 56.94 dollars) thanks to an article in the Wall Street Journal, reporting advanced discussions with InterActive Corp (+1.44 % to $ 135.64).

The latter, who already controls the site The Daily Beast in particular, would value Meredith 2.5 billion dollars, according to the daily.

In the bond market, investors are gradually integrating the prospect of a hike in key rates from the American Central Bank (Fed), the rate of US 10-year government bonds was again tight to 1.45%, significantly higher higher than Wednesday (1.32%).

The 2-year bond rate has tightened even further, to 0.27% and is approaching its high for the year (0.29% on July 4).

© 2021 AFP