The New York Stock Exchange ended in slight decline on Friday the day after the records of its main indices, which rose over the week. With the approach of Friday midnight (last deadline before a "shutdown"), negotiations on a new budget support plan of 900 billion dollars intensified in the American Congress, and could extend during the weekend. Another cause for concern: Washington has placed the Chinese chipmaker SMIC and some 60 additional Chinese entities on the Commerce Department's blacklist... Oil prices nevertheless continued to rise, with WTI approaching 50 $ per barrel.

At the close, the Dow Jones index lost 0.41% to 30,079 points, while the broad S&P 500 index dropped 0.35% to 3,709 pts, and the Nasdaq Composite index, rich in technology stocks and biotechs, fell 0.07% to 12,755pts. The day before, the three indices had ended at historically high levels, as well as the Russell 2000 index, which follows the average values. For the week as a whole, the DJIA gained 0.5%, the S&P 500 gained 1.3% and the Nasdaq climbed 3.1%.

Tesla at the top to join the S&P 500

Earlier in the day, European markets ended slightly lower, with the EuroStoxx 50 down 0.42% and the CAC 40 ending down 0.39%. Concerns over a no-deal Brexit resurfaced as European negotiator Michel Barnier said there were only "a few hours" left to reach an agreement with London...

On Wall Street, the end of the session was volatile on the occasion of the "Days of the 4 Witches", which corresponds to the expiry, on the same day, of options and futures contracts on indices and on American stocks.

Volatility was increased by rebalancing within the portfolios linked to the official entry of Tesla (+5.9%) in the S&P 500 at the end of this session on Friday. The stock ended at a record high of $695, corresponding to a market capitalization of nearly $660 billion.

Congress plans $900 billion in budget support

Investors kept their eyes glued to the US Congress, where negotiations drag on for the adoption of a new plan to support the US economy, as deaths from the coronavirus exceeded 310,000 in the United States. United, threatening economic recovery.

The 900 billion dollar plan, drawn up by a group of Democratic and Republican senators, provides for the payment of direct aid to individuals as well as technical unemployment benefits and aid for SMEs. On the other hand, the subjects which annoy (aid to the States and the municipalities, responsibility of the companies vis-a-vis the Covid) were put aside for the moment, in order to facilitate an agreement.

The text should be adopted at the same time as the $1.4 trillion state funding project, which must be adopted before midnight Friday, failing which, certain federal administrations would no longer be funded and would have to cease to operate ("shutdown ").

12 million Americans threatened with being deprived of unemployment benefits

According to the channel 'CNBC', Mitch McConnell, the leader of the Republicans in the Senate (whose support is crucial) continued to be optimistic on Friday on an agreement, and would push his colleagues to vote the postponement of 48 hours of the "shutdown" in order to reach an agreement before the end of the weekend. On Wednesday, McConnell told the press that he would not leave the Senate until an agreement was reached.

Since the start of the health crisis, the American Congress has already adopted around $3,000 billion in aid for individuals and businesses, including a massive $2,200 billion plan voted last March, the CARES Act. However, without an additional plan, most aid programs will end on December 31, in particular depriving 12 million people of unemployment benefits and also ending moratoriums on loans and rents...

In macro-economic news, the index of American leading indicators, calculated by the Conference Board, rose 0.6% in November over one month, after rising 0.8% in October, and while the consensus was expecting growth of 0.5%. In addition, the United States posted a current account deficit of $178.5 billion in the third quarter, against a market consensus of $186 billion and after $161.4 billion in the 2nd quarter.

Moderna's vaccine recommended by the FDA

On the health front, investors still prefer to ignore the spread of the virus and focus on more favorable vaccine news. Thursday evening, the advisory committee of the FDA, the American drug agency, issued a positive opinion on the Moderna vaccine, recommending its emergency use against the coronavirus. This is the final step before the official green light for the marketing of the vaccine, which should take place very quickly, perhaps as early as this Friday.

On Friday morning, Donald Trump was ahead of the FDA, assuring on his Twitter account that Moderna's vaccine had been "overwhelmingly approved" and that "distribution will begin immediately".

On Thursday evening, the FDA's advisory committee ruled by twenty votes in favor and one abstention that the benefit-risk ratio of Moderna's vaccine was positive for people aged 18 and over. At the end of last week, the FDA gave the green light to the very first vaccine, that of the American Pfizer allied to the German biotech BioNTech. This allowed the United States to kick off its vaccination campaign on Monday, December 14, a week after the United Kingdom, which was the first country to approve the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine.

According to Johns Hopkins University on Friday, the number of confirmed cases of the new coronavirus since the start of the epidemic now exceeds 75.2 million worldwide, including 17.3 million in the United States. The virus has killed 1.66 million people worldwide since its emergence, including more than 312,700 in the USA.

Renewed trade tensions with Beijing

The markets are also watching with attention a resurgence of trade tensions between the United States and China. The Trump administration announced on Friday that it had added SMIC (Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation), the Chinese computer chip giant, to the Commerce Department's blacklist in order to "protect the national security of the United States". Washington has also added to this blacklist "more than sixty other entities" for "actions deemed contrary to the national security or the interest of the foreign policy of the United States".

This blacklist, which includes the telecom giant Huawei, now includes several hundred Chinese companies and their subsidiaries. Companies are prohibited from exporting US-origin technology to companies on this blacklist unless they obtain an overriding license. In the case of Smic, Washington has clarified that they will be prohibited from acquiring technology for the Chinese group to build chips with circuits of 10 nanometers and smaller, that is, the most efficient chips in the world. 'industry.

"We will not allow advanced technology from the United States to help build the military of an increasingly belligerent adversary," Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said in the statement.

Fears of a hard Brexit resurface

On the foreign exchange market, the pound sterling relapsed on Friday by 0.6% to $ 1.3504, amid renewed doubts about the ability of negotiators to reach an agreement on Brexit, and to have it approved before the end. December 31 deadline...

Michel Barnier, the Europeans' chief negotiator, estimated Friday morning that an agreement with London on future relations with the European Union remained possible but that there were only "a few hours" left to achieve it.

At midday on Friday, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson reiterated his skepticism, indicating that the negotiations "seemed difficult" and that there was still a gap to be filled.

The dollar stabilizes after its fall, oil and copper climb

In addition, the dollar stabilized after its recent fall, to its lowest since March 2018. The dollar index, which measures its evolution against a basket of 6 reference currencies, recovered 0.20% to 90, 01 points, while the euro fell 0.1% to $1.2256. On the US government bond market, the yield on the 10-year T-Bond remained stable at 0.94%.

Oil prices recorded their 7th week of increases in a row, in the hope of a recovery in demand in 2021 thanks to the vaccine against Covid-19. WTI light crude oil rose another 1.5% on Friday to $49.10 a barrel for the January futures contract on the Nymex, the highest since last February before the health crisis. February Brent North Sea Brent rose 1.5% to $52.26. Over the week, WTI gained 5.4% and Brent climbed 4.6%.

The entire commodity sector ended the year on a high note, particularly copper, which exceeded $8,000 per ton for the first time in more than 7 years, and benefited in particular from a positive rating from Goldman Sachs, who envisions a new super-cycle for commodities.

VALUES TO FOLLOW

Tesla (+5.9%) ended on a new high at $695, and was included as expected in the S&P 500 index at the end of Friday's session. The Californian manufacturer of electric vehicles now has a market capitalization close to 660 billion dollars, which has multiplied by more than 8 since the beginning of the year! Tesla is now the 9th market capitalization in the world, and is gradually approaching Facebook ($787 billion). The company weighs more than General Motors, Ford Motor, Fiat-Chrysler, Toyota, Honda and Volkswagen combined...

Moderna (-2.6%). An FDA advisory committee has as expected recommended the emergency use approval of its anti-covid vaccine in the United States. The panel voted unanimously in favor of the vaccine. The FDA's EUA is no longer in doubt. The company hopes to deliver 20 million doses by the end of the month.

Moderna also announces that the European Commission has exercised an option on an order for 80 million additional doses of its vaccine. With this option, the EU ordered a total of 160 million doses from the American. The first deliveries are scheduled for early 2021. The vaccine should receive emergency authorization from the European Medicines Agency, the laboratory hopes.

Johnson & Johnson (-0.6%) announced the end of recruitment for the phase 3 study of its single-dose coronavirus vaccine candidate (ENSEMBLE study). The group has 45,000 participants. Interim data from the trial is expected by the end of January 2021. Emergency FDA clearance request is scheduled for February if there is evidence of safety and efficacy. efficiency.

Centene (-1.5%) issued lower-than-expected earnings guidance for 2021. Revenue estimates come in line. The company anticipates for 2021 adjusted earnings per share ranging from $5 to $5.3, against a consensus of $5.43. EPS for the current year is expected to be between $4.9 and $5.06. Revenues for 2020 are expected between 109.8 and 111.4 billion, while those for 2021 are expected between 114.1 and 116.1 billion.

Microsoft (-0.38%) was hacked as part of a larger campaign profiting from the use of SolarWinds. According to Reuters sources familiar with the matter, Microsoft's own products were then used by hackers to carry out other cyberattacks.

The vast computer attack is attributed to Russian hackers who were able to spy on customers of US software provider SolarWinds for months, according to Reuters. Microsoft products were then used to extend this cyberattack to other targets. Several US federal government sites were affected, and the attack is still ongoing, according to the FBI, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence.

Hackers accessed emails from the Treasury and Commerce Departments, Reuters sources said... Solarwinds said up to 18,000 of its customers had downloaded a malware update that allowed hackers to spying for almost nine months on businesses or government agencies.

Alphabet (-0.8%). Google has received the green light from the European Commission for its planned acquisition of Fitbit, a $2.1 billion deal, against competition concessions.

BioTelemetry (+17%!), an American diagnostics and cardiac monitoring firm, is the subject of an offer to acquire the Dutch company Philips in the context of a transaction worth 2.8 billion dollars in cash, at the price of $72 per share, which represents a premium of 16.5% on yesterday's closing. The offer is supported by the board of the American. Completion is expected in the first quarter of 2021. BioTelemetry has sales of $439 million and employs 1,900 people.

PPG (+0.8%). The chemical group has just made an offer for 1.1 billion euros to buy the Finnish paint producer Tikkurila.

FedEx (-5.7%) fell, despite announcing a doubling of its quarterly profit, thanks to the rise in prices and the increase in volumes. The delivery giant, however, does not provide financial guidance for 2021, which disappointed the markets. In the second fiscal quarter, revenues totaled $20.6 billion, for adjusted earnings of $4.83 per share. The consensus was $19.5 billion in revenue and $4.01 in adjusted EPS. The group exceeds $20 billion in quarterly revenue for the first time, with business growth of 19%. Net profit climbed 114% in the quarter to 1.23 billion, $4.55 per share.

FedEx, citing a still uncertain global environment, anticipates "profit growth" in the second fiscal half of 2021, without being more specific. Michael Lenz, CEO, adds that the group remains focused on executing on its strategic priorities.