As they were about to start in the green, the indices took a nosedive and then moved in scattered order: around 2:10 p.m. GMT, the Dow Jones advanced by 0.35%, the Nasdaq, dominated by technology, yielded 0, 09% and the broader S&P 500 index gleaned 0.12%.

Tuesday, during a volatile session jostled by the difficulties of the British bond market, the Dow Jones index had nibbled 0.12% to 29,239.19 points, the Nasdaq had lost 1.10% to 10,426.19 points and the S&P 500 had lost 0.65% to 3,588.84 points.

The producer price index (PPI) in the United States published shortly before the opening of the market rose sharply again last month to +0.4% against -0.2% in August and +0.2 % expected, suggesting that inflation is far from under control and further putting pressure on the Federal Reserve (Fed) to raise interest rates.

The PPI index does not bode well for the increase in consumer prices (CPI) which will be published on Thursday.

Analysts expect inflation at an annual rate still above 8% for the seventh month in a row.

The rise in producer costs concerns all categories: food prices, which had fallen slightly in August, rose by 1.2%;

those of energy, which had benefited from the drop in gasoline prices over the past two months, increased by 0.7%.

Over one year, however, the rise in prices slowed to 8.5%, against 8.7% the previous month.

The data comes "as a reminder that pricing pressures remain high and volatile, particularly for food and gas, given the ongoing war in Ukraine and continued supply chain disruptions", commented Matthew Martin, economist for Oxford Economics.

At the beginning of the afternoon, the Fed will also publish the minutes (“the minutes”) of its last monetary meeting which should give details on the state of mind of the Monetary Committee before a new meeting in early November. .

Investors were keeping a close eye on developments in the UK bond market, after the Bank of England confirmed Governor Andrew Bailey's remarks in Washington the day before that its emergency purchases of Treasuries would end on Wednesday.

But the British monetary authorities remain under pressure to reconsider this decision.

Yields on 10-year US Treasuries remained stable around 3.93% while yields on 30-year UK bonds (gilts) had exceeded 5%.

As for equities, the VIX "fear" index, which measures volatility on Wall Street, climbed to its highest level since June, around 34 points.

The American snacks and drinks giant Pepsico climbed 3.58% after posting better-than-expected sales in the third quarter, thanks in particular to its price increases and it raised its growth forecast for the year.

These data seemed to give some balm to the hearts of investors who are preparing to follow the corporate earnings season.

The consumer products sector led the rise in shares (+1.31%) around 2:00 p.m. GMT, followed by health services (+0.80%).

Uber (+1.67%) and Lyft (+3.95%) regained their colors after being beaten the day before in the wake of a project by the American administration to change the status of employees of workers in the gig economy.

© 2022 AFP