02/21/2024 – 18:23
The New York stock exchanges closed mixed, in a surprising turnaround in the last minutes of trading, after spending the entire day falling. Investors exercised caution given the publication of the Federal Reserve (Fed) minutes and expectations for Nvidia's balance sheet.
The Dow Jones index rose 0.13%, to 38,612.24 points; the S&P 500 also advanced 0.13%, to 4,981.80 points; and the Nasdaq dropped 0.32%, to 15,580.87 points.
The minutes of the Federal Reserve's (Fed) last monetary policy meeting reiterated that American central bankers feel no urgency to start cutting interest rates. The afternoon announcement maintained a certain bad mood that had already prevailed since the market opened, by slightly reinforcing bets at the beginning of the relaxation cycle only in June.
The wait for Nvidia's results (-2.85%) weighed on sentiment throughout the session, as the chip giant has very high forecasts to overcome if it wants to please investors. The market expects earnings per share of US$4.59 and revenue of US$20.4 billion, according to analysts interviewed by FactSet. “The company will need to surprise again to justify the huge appreciation in its share price. It is up 44% in 2024 and an impressive 236% over the last 12 months,” noted Hargreaves Lansdown analyst Susannah Streeter.
In any case, the company's numbers – the fourth largest in market value in the world – should provide some insight into the performance of technology companies, especially those in the chip segment. Among other big techs, Meta fell 0.68%, Microsoft gave up 0.15% and Alphabet advanced 1%. Amazon rose 0.90%, following news about the company's entry into the Dow Jones index and sales of shares by founder Jeff Bezos.
Boeing fell 0.89% on the day it announced the departure of Ed Clark, the head responsible for the 737 MAX aircraft line, which had technical failures this year. In his place comes Katie Ringgold.
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