The Dow Jones index gained 0.30% to 33,586.52 points, the tech-dominated Nasdaq gave up 0.03% to 12,084.36 points and the broader S&P 500 index advanced 0.10% to 4,109.11 points.

"The session was very quiet and the trading light, basically we were the only ones open," said Peter Cardillo of Spartan Capital Securities.

The Nasdaq and the S&P 500 have largely recovered the ground they lost in the first part of the session, reacting to the weaker but still solid figures of the labor market in the United States published Friday when Wall Street was closed for Good Friday.

"Finally, the good news of this employment report is that wages have increased only modestly," by 4.2% year-on-year, their smallest increase since June 2021. "It's a good sign, it means we're going in the right direction" on inflation, Cardillo added.

However, the analyst continued, "due to the publication of an inflation index on Wednesday, investors remained cautious."

On Wednesday, markets will have their eyes on the consumer price index (CPI) in the United States, but also on the minutes of the last Fed meeting.

Analysts expect inflation to fall to 5.1 percent year-on-year, the lowest in almost two years, from 6 percent year-on-year in February, according to Wells Fargo Bank forecasts.

"Investors are a bit on the +we're waiting to see+ mode," Patrick O'Hare of Briefing.com told AFP.

In terms of values, the big names in technology have suffered. Apple dropped 1.60% to $ 162, Alphabet, the parent company of Google, gave up 1.79% to $ 106.95.

The semiconductor sector, on the other hand, had a good session. Micron Technology soared 8% after news that rival Samsung would moderate its chip production to reduce the volume of its inventories.

AMD gained 3.26%, Nvidia, in loss at the beginning of the session, rebounded 2%.

Tesla, which plunged more than 4% at the opening after announcing a new price cut for its electric vehicles, has raised the bar to yield only 0.30%.

Some analysts felt that this price cut, the fifth of the year for the manufacturer, was a good way to gain market share.

Among the major banks that are preparing to report results on Friday, JPMorgan Chase rose 0.33%, Wells Fargo 1.93% and Citigroup 1.44%.

Shale gas specialist Pioneer Natural Resources climbed 5.79% to $220 while oil group Exxon Mobil (-0.44%) would be in discussion for its purchase, according to information from the Wall Street Journal.

In the bond market, yields on ten-year Treasuries climbed to 3.41% from 3.39% at the last close.

Oil prices fell after three weekly hikes while the London square remained closed for Easter Monday.

The barrel of Brent from the North Sea for delivery in June fell 1.10% to 84.18 dollars.

Its US equivalent, the barrel of West Texas Intermediate (WTI), for delivery in May, fell 1.18% to 79.74 dollars.

The price of crude oil was notably hampered by an appreciation of the dollar.

The dollar gained 0.41% against the European currency to 1.0860 dollar to the euro.

In addition, the yen weakened by 1.06% against the dollar to 133.58 yen, significantly weighed down by the words of the new governor of the Bank of Japan (BoJ) seeming to exclude any future rate hike after ten years of ultra-accommodative monetary policy led by his predecessor.

© 2023 AFP