The Dow Jones index ended up 0.98% to 33,601.15 points, the S&P 500 rose 0.37% to 4,124.51 points while the tech-dominated Nasdaq retracted 0.27% to 12,189.45 points.

Oil prices rose by some 6.30% for a barrel of Brent as for Texas oil WTI after the surprise announcement Sunday by eight of the twenty-three OPEC + countries --including Saudi Arabia--, of a reduction, as of May, of their production.

The decline will exceed one million barrels per day (bpd), the largest reduction since October.

"We had a risky event this weekend and it was not the banks this time but OPEC," said Karl Haeling of LBBW.

More expensive oil apparently complicates the task of the US Federal Reserve (Fed) which has drastically raised interest rates to curb inflation that remains tenacious.

The White House did not like the announcement of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Oman, Kuwait, Algeria and Iraq.

"It is not appropriate to reduce production at this time given the uncertainties in the market," said a spokesman for the White House National Security Council.

But overall, the markets reacted "quite calmly", said Karl Healing. "There was already a feeling that OPEC would not have reduced production if it was not worried about a slowdown in demand and a decline in crude prices," he told AFP.

During the morning, the ISM indicator of manufacturing activity in the United States confirmed the presumptions of the coming slowdown. At 46.3%, the index fell to its lowest since May 2020.

"As soon as the ISM was published, there was the perception that OPEC's lower output was going to be more than compensated, in terms of price movements, by a decline in demand and a weakening of the global economy," the analyst commented.

Thus, despite the rise in oil prices, which could raise fears of more inflation, yields on Treasury bonds eased: 3.40% instead of 3.46% on Friday for ten-year bonds around 20:00 GMT. Those with two slipped below 4% to 3.96%.

Similarly, the Nasdaq, which was losing more before the publication of the ISM, has recovered some ground while the rise of the Dow Jones has solidified.

On the stock market, oil stocks have benefited from the situation. The energy sector (+4.91%) led the seven sectors out of the eleven of the S&P that ended in the green.

Oil services groups led the way such as Halliburton (+7.76%) and Schlumberger (+6.59%). ConocoPhilips soared 9.29%. Exxon Mobil gained 5.89% and Chevron 4.16%.

Sensitive to the rise in fuels, the travel sector took the hit like Expedia (-2.02%), Airbnb (-2.36%) or airlines such as United Airlines (-2.03%) or American Airlines (-2.24%).

The US competition authority, the FTC vetoed the merger of the biotechnology company Illumina (-1.09%) with the developer of cancer tests Grail.

This merger valued at $ 7 billion, which the FTC had already opposed for reasons of respect for competition, was later authorized by a US administrative judge. The FTC finally had the final say.

Tesla shares slipped 6.12% despite an increase in the number of its vehicles delivered in the first quarter, a progress recorded mainly thanks to price reductions from the electric manufacturer.

In the ring, the professional wrestling line WWC (World Wrestling Entertainment, WWE) took badly (-2.15%) its announced merger with the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC).

The entertainment juggernaut Endeavor (-5.81%), owner of the UFC, will hold the majority in the new entity that will be listed on the New York Stock Exchange in the second half of the year. It is valued at more than $21 billion.

© 2023 AFP