New York (AFP)

The New York Stock Exchange finished higher Thursday, relieved by a postponement of the deadline on the debt ceiling and confident in the report on US jobs expected Friday.

The Dow Jones closed up 0.98% at 34,754.94 points, the high-tech Nasdaq index gained 1.05% to 14,654.01 points and the broader S&P 500 index gained 0.83 % at 4,399.76 points.

"The surge in equities has everything to do with the break in the game between parties in Congress over the debt ceiling," commented Marc Zabicki, research director at LPL Financial.

Republican and Democratic senators agreed on Thursday to extend the deadline for raising the debt ceiling of the United States, from October 18 to December 3.

But nothing has been resolved on the merits and the crisis could last several more weeks.

"The more we push back on the problem, the less likely it is that we will have aggressive spending measures and tax increases," said Kim Forrest, investment manager at management firm Bokeh Capital Partners. .

The political tension around the debt ceiling is, in fact, linked to the two massive investment plans that the Biden government wants to push through, which would be partly financed by tax increases.

In recent days, discussions have focused on a reduced envelope, which would have a better chance of winning broad support.

"Wall Street does not like taxes. I think that also plays a role today," argued Kim Forrest.

The market is also looking at the September job creation report, which the Labor Department will release on Friday.

On the employment front, a figure close to expectations, around 450,000 jobs created, would be positive for investors, because it would confirm the good health of the US economy, despite a slight slowdown in the third quarter.

The market rather welcomes the gradual normalization of monetary policy by the US Central Bank (Fed), which would be encouraged to move forward with a good employment figure.

Sign of this anticipation of a start of monetary tightening, the rate of US government bonds at 10 years has tightened to 1.57% against 1.53% Wednesday.

In the table of values, the automaker General Motors did well on Thursday (+ 4.75% to 56.49 dollars) after unveiling an ambitious goal on Wednesday, namely the doubling of its turnover by 2030, thanks to acceleration in the electronic vehicle market as well as in services and software.

It took in its wake its competitor Ford, which took 5.45% to 14.89 dollars.

The American laboratory Pfizer took advantage (+ 1.71% to 42.74 dollars) of the announcement Thursday of the filing with the United States Medicines Agency FDA of a request for authorization of its anti-Covid vaccine for children from 5 to 11 years old.

The market welcomed the acquisition by the diversified group in the media and internet IAC (+ 7.78% to 141.93 dollars) of Meredith (6.47% to 58.08 dollars), publisher of several magazines, including People , and owner of local television channels.

Twitter took 4.37%, to $ 63.97, helped by the prospect of selling advertising network MoPub for $ 1.05 billion to app creator services group AppLovin (+ 10.31% to 84.94 dollars).

The social network thus wishes to refocus on its platform.

The maker of the famous 501 jeans Levi Strauss jumped (+ 8.46% to 26.29 dollars), after announcing Wednesday a profit and a turnover above expectations.

The group said it had benefited from its strategy of diversifying its sources of supply so as not to be too dependent on a single country.

This allowed him to better manage the logistical crisis due to the coronavirus pandemic.

© 2021 AFP