The S&P500 ended in the green (+0.32%) for the fifth time in six sessions, the same for the Nasdaq Composite with +0.35%, with the Dow Jones coming out on top with +0.38%.

Tesla (+15.3% on an agreement in China to launch its "automatic driving" technology), Boeing (+3.4%) and Apple (+2.5%) supported the three main US indices, while Alphabet, which had soared by +12% last week, lost -3.4%, Meta -2.4% (investments in AI continued to cause concern), Intel -1.6% and Microsoft -1%.

Biotechs and labs performed well, with Moderna +3.4%, Biogen +3.2% and Amgen +2.4%.

After a week of rebounding - which turned out to be the most bullish of the year - investors were keen to extend the movement that began last Monday, and to start the week with an assumed capital of confidence, despite uncertainties over the tone of the Fed's statement on Wednesday evening (at the end of its FOMC meeting) and the "elements of language" that will be distilled at Jerome Powell's press conference.

The bond sector played in favor of equities, with yields easing from -2.5 basis points on the '2-yr' to -5.5 basis points on the '10-yr' (to 6.615%).

No rate changes are expected on Wednesday evening, but investors will be looking once again to Jerome Powell, who could harden his tone on inflation.

The latest price indices - including the famous PCE - in the United States have rekindled fears that monetary easing by the Federal Reserve will be slower than expected, and may not materialize until November.

The big news of the first four months of the year was the week-by-week evaporation of expectations of rate cuts during 2024 (from seven to... potentially zero), with an increase even garnering 33% of votes for January 2025.

Employment figures, due out on Friday, could also testify to the strength of the US economy, with 250,000 non-farm jobs expected to be created in April, compared with 303,000 in March.

Monday evening was punctuated by NXP Semiconductor's results: EPS slightly exceeded expectations at $3.24, but sales came in perfectly in line with consensus at $3.13 billion (the stock gained +3% in the after-hours).

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