The New York Stock Exchange ended in lackluster Friday, ending two weeks of increases in a row, punctuated by records. The markets have consolidated in recent days in the face of uncertainties over the adoption of a new budgetary support plan in the United States, while the coronavirus epidemic continues to blaze across the Atlantic. Investors are also worried about the risk of a hard Brexit. In terms of health, the US FDA's advisory committee has given a favorable opinion on the emergency marketing of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine, a further step towards the vaccination campaign.

At the close, the Dow Jones rose 0.16% to 30,046 points, symbolically returning to the 30,000 pts threshold, while the broad S&P 500 index lost 0.13% to 3,663 pts and the Nasdaq Composite index , rich in technology and biotech stocks, fell 0.23% to 12,377 pts.

The indices reduced their losses after the US Senate voted to extend federal government funding by one week, thus avoiding a "shutdown" of federal services this Friday evening. The draft budget for the 2021 financial year (which should include the famous Covid support plan) will therefore have to be approved before next Friday.

On the value side, Walt Disney soared 13.6%, ending at a record high, after the group made impressive forecasts for its streaming video services, including Disney +, by the financial year 2024.

For the week as a whole, the DJIA fell 0.6%, the S&P 500 returned 1% and the Nasdaq dropped 0.7%, but all three indexes remain near their all-time highs, supported by the hope of an exit from the Covid-19 crisis in 2021 thanks to vaccination.

Americans keep morale high despite Covid-19 outbreak

On the macroeconomic level in the United States, American morale is holding up well at the start of December despite the progression of the coronavirus epidemic and the return of restrictive measures in many states. The preliminary index of US consumer sentiment, measured by the University of Michigan, thus climbed to 81.4 in December against a market consensus of 76, and after 76.9 in November.

Moreover, the producer price index rose by 0.1% in November compared to the previous month, in line with the consensus of economists. Excluding food and energy this time, the US 'PPI' rose by 0.1%, while the consensus was at +0.2% compared to the previous month.

The chances of passing a stimulus package before Christmas appear to be diminishing

In Washington, the suspense continues over the possibility of adopting a new support plan to deal with the Covid-19 crisis before the end of the current legislature, scheduled for the end of next week. Two projects of an almost equivalent amount are now under discussion: the first, worth 908 billion dollars, was tabled last week by a bipartisan group of Democratic and Republican senators. The second project, worth $916 billion, was presented Tuesday evening by Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin.

Mr. Mnuchin and Nancy Pelosi, the Democratic leader of the House of Representatives both reported "progress" in the negotiations, but Ms. Pelosi expressed doubts on Thursday evening, saying that it was not excluded that the talks continue beyond Christmas... According to the American press, the discussions are slowed down by the reluctance of the Republican President of the Senate, Mitch McConnell, whose support is essential to vote for a new plan. McConnell reportedly set conditions, including requiring that the support plan include protecting companies from legal action related to Covid-19.

It seems increasingly difficult to get a plan adopted before the end of the legislature (in principle next Friday, December 18, etc.), when many aid programs for Americans facing the coronavirus crisis will end on December 31, notably depriving 12 million people of unemployment benefits... A failure would postpone the adoption of a new package by at least a month, which would be submitted to the new Congress taking office in January, but which would not should not pass legislation before the inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden scheduled for January 20.

The markets are also more cautious this weekend given the situation on Brexit, with negotiations once again deadlocked. The British Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, thus evoked Thursday evening the "strong possibility" of a rupture without agreement with the European Union. Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, also felt that the 'no-deal' was now more likely. However, negotiations continue until Sunday...

Brent Oil Regained $50 This Week

On the oil market, prices stalled on Friday, but the results for the week are positive: in 5 sessions, WTI gained another 0.7% and Brent advanced by 1.5%, even surpassing the threshold of $50 at the close, for the first time since last March. Oil prices have recovered around 30% since the beginning of November in the hope of a recovery in demand, and an improvement on the health front in 2021 thanks to vaccines against Covid-19.

On Friday evening, US light crude oil (WTI) fell 0.5% to $46.57 a barrel, for the January contract on Nymex, while the Brent contract for February delivery fell 0, 6% to $49.97 a barrel.

VALUES TO FOLLOW

Walt Disney soared 13.6% to $175.72, a new all-time high, the day after a virtual investor day in which the US entertainment giant unveiled impressive data and ambitions for its streaming video services, including Disney+, launched just over a year ago. Disney+ thus won 86.8 million subscribers as of December 2, compared to just over 73 million at the end of the fourth fiscal quarter, which ended on October 3. Including Hulu and ESPN+, the group's streaming services have a total of around 137 million subscribers.

By the end of the 2024 financial year, the group is now targeting 260 million customers for Disney+ and 350 million for Disney+, Hulu and ESPN+ combined, which corresponds to tripling its initial ambitions made in the fall of 2019 (80 to 90 million subscribers to Disney+)...

Building on the success of Disney+, the group announced on Thursday an increase in the price of the Disney+ subscription in the United States, to $7.99 per month, or an additional $1, from March 2021. In Europe, the subscription to Disney+ will cost 2 euros more, or 8.99 euros per month, instead of 6.99 euros, from February 23, 2021.

Airbnb (-3.7%) was the subject of some profit taking for its 2nd day of trading, after surging 113% the day before for its start on the Nasdaq. DoorDash (-5.9% to $175), the week's other big IPO, corrected around 8% in two sessions, after surging 85% on Wednesday for its Wall Street IPO.

The two "unicorns" made a success of their debut on the stock market, managing to set IPO prices much higher than the indicative ranges envisaged, which enabled them to raise several billion dollars to finance their development ($3.3 billion for DoorDash and $3.5 billion for Airbnb).

Pfizer (-1.4%) was subject to profit taking. A committee of independent experts from the FDA therefore voted yesterday Thursday by a large majority in favor of an authorization for emergency use of the vaccine from the American group and its German partner BioNTech (-1.7%) against the Covid-19. The FDA will follow this advice. She has already contacted the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in the United States as well as Operation Warp Speed to get them to implement their vaccine distribution plans. This will be the first vaccine available in the USA.

Apple (-0.67%)/Qualcomm (-7.3%). The apple group is working according to 'Bloomberg' on its own cellular modem, to replace Qualcomm products... Development would have started this year, according to a group leader, who would have confided this to employees.

Broadcom (-1%) exceeded market expectations for the quarter ended and announced the appointment of a new chief financial officer. For the fourth fiscal quarter, net profit stood at $1.25 billion and $2.93 per share, against $818 million a year earlier. Adjusted EPS represented $6.35 versus $5.39 a year earlier. Revenues totaled 6.47 billion, compared to 5.78 billion last year. Kirsten Spears also takes over as chief financial officer.

Oracle (+1.9%) posted net income of $2.44 billion (80 cents per share) for its second fiscal quarter, on revenue of $9.8 billion, up slightly from 1 .8%. In data adjusted for non-recurring items, the earnings per share of the American management software publisher amounted to $1.06, against $0.9 a year earlier. These figures are generally higher than expected. The consensus of analysts was thus counting on an EPS of $1 and on sales of $9.77 billion. Safra Catz, CEO of the group, specified that the results of the 2nd fiscal quarter had been driven by the strong increase in sales of two Cloud applications of the group, Fusion and NetSuite, which jumped respectively by 33% and 21% over one year.

Adobe (-0.2%). The American software group exceeded market expectations for its fourth quarter and raised its forecasts. In Q4, earnings per share came out at $2.81, versus $2.66 consensus and $2.29 a year earlier. Revenues were 3.42 billion, against 3 billion a year earlier and $3.36 billion consensus. Over the financial year, the group forecasts EPS of $11.2 and revenues of $15.15 billion.

MasterCard (-1.2%). The UK Supreme Court today upheld class action proceedings against the credit card group, accused of overcharging more than 46 million people in Britain for a total of 14 billion pounds over a period of 15 years.

Lululemon Athletica (-6.7%) raised its revenue and profit forecasts for the quarter started, thus integrating the positive impact of containment measures and the rise of home sports. For the third quarter, the group posted a profit of $144 million and $1.1 per share, against $126 million a year earlier. Adjusted EPS represented $1.16 versus 88 cents consensus. Revenues climbed 22% to $1.1 billion with e-commerce. Like-for-like growth was 19%.

Costco Wholesale (+0.6%), the distributor of Issaquah, unveiled last night quarterly accounts that exceeded market expectations, with an 86% increase in online sales. For the first fiscal quarter, Costco made a profit of $1.17 billion and $2.62 per share, compared with $844 million a year earlier. Revenue improved 17% to $42.4 billion. Like-for-like growth was 15%.

MetLife (-0.7%). The Swiss Zurich Insurance and Farmers Exchanges have concluded the acquisition from MetLife of non-life insurance activities in the United States for an amount of 3.94 billion dollars.

Ferrari (+0.45%). Ferrari's managing director, Louis Camilleri, has resigned for personal reasons. He will be replaced for the time being by President John Elkann. Camilleri had led the Italian group since July 2018. He took the decision to resign as he suffered from health problems and had to be hospitalized after being infected with Covid-19, according to a Reuters source, according to which his condition however, was not the reason for his resignation.

Tesla Motors (-2.7%) fell ahead of its inclusion in the S&P 500. Broker Jefferies lowered its recommendation to 'hold' versus 'buy', but raised its price target to $650 from $500 previously.

Nio (-7.1%), Tesla's Chinese rival, also lost ground on Wall Street. Like Tesla earlier this week, the group in turn announced a capital increase. This relates to 60 million ADS (American Depositary Shares) and could allow Nio to raise 2.7 billion dollars.