Around 2:55 p.m. GMT, the Dow Jones gained 1.33%, the Nasdaq index, with a strong technological coloring, 0.75% and the extended S&P 500 index, took 1.08%.

After a series of back and forths since Friday, from one day to another but also during the session, the market is still deprived of a clear direction, "a logical situation given the recent volatility due to ruminations on the possible impact of the market. variant Omicron and the change in positioning of the president of the Fed, ”analyzed, in a note, Patrick O'Hare, of Briefing.com.

"If the market were convinced that Omicron was really a big risk, obviously it would go down by more than 1%," commented Gregori Volokhine, president of Meeschaert Financial Services.

"If the bond market were convinced that there really was an inflationary problem, rates would go up a lot more."

However, bond rates eased further on Thursday, a sign that money is flowing into this market considered to be a safe haven in the event of a crisis.

The benchmark rate for 10-year US government bonds fell briefly on Thursday to its lowest level for more than two months before rising slightly to 1.43%, stable compared to the previous day.

In the absence of reliable data on the dangerousness of the Omicron variant, operators are reacting to news "which are not really", according to the manager, such as the comments of the heads of laboratories which are engaged in forecasts with a wet finger.

"The risk is that all these + fake news + become so important that they give direction to the market, when in fact the fundamentals are not changing in the United States," argued Gregori Volokhine.

"The economy, which had slowed down, will accelerate, consumption is holding up extremely well. So nothing is changing."

"When there are so many uncertain things," concluded the manager, "it is very difficult to act in a smart way."

At the odds, the aircraft manufacturer Boeing took off (+ 4.17% to 196.03 dollars) after the announcement of the Chinese regulatory authority that its 737 MAX should soon be authorized to fly in China.

Beijing banned the aircraft from Chinese skies in March 2019, after the crash of the Ethiopian Airlines 737 MAX.

The payment services specialist Square was approaching its lowest level in six months (-0.64% to 193.25 dollars), its name change, announced Wednesday evening, having no effect on the course.

The share price had also not benefited from the announcement on Monday of the departure of Jack Dorsey from Twitter, the other group led by the boss of Square, which will be renamed Block.

Wall Street sanctioned WeWork (-4.37% to 8.10 dollars), which announced that it would have to make accounting changes because some of the group's securities have been misclassified.

Listed on the stock market at the end of October after an abortive attempt in 2019, the manager of shared offices recognized "significant inadequacies" in the control of its financial statements, which he undertook to correct.

The giant Kroger, the second largest food distributor in the United States after Walmart, surpassed results above expectations (+ 9.28% to 43.94 dollars).

Investors did not hold it against the supermarket chain for the limited deterioration in its margin, linked to an increase in supply costs, especially as the group has raised its forecast for annual net profit.

Still in distribution, the chain of low-cost stores Dollar General was, on the other hand, shunned by investors (-3.30% to 215.14 dollars), despite results exceeding expectations and higher forecasts.

The market retained, this time, the deterioration of the margins and a profit down on one year.

© 2021 AFP