The New York Stock Exchange is moving close to balance on Thursday, close to its records, for the last session of 2020.

The New York Stock Exchange is moving close to equilibrium on Thursday, close to its records, for the last session of 2020. Investors are calmly finishing their portfolio dressing operations, at the end of this particularly volatile year, marked by the unprecedented coronavirus crisis. After the brutal recession of the first half of the year, the markets are counting on the continuation of a vigorous economic recovery in 2021, thanks to the new support plan in the United States, and thanks to the vaccination campaign against the coronavirus.

Two hours before closing, the Dow Jones index lost 0.1% to 30,379 points, while the broad S&P 500 index fell 0.05% to 3,730 pts, and the Nasdaq Composite index, rich in values technologies and biotechs, fell 0.24% to 12,839 pts.

The Dow Jones is thus preparing to end with an annual gain of 6.6%, the S&P 500 on an increase of 15.5% and the Nasdaq on a jump of 43%, galvanized by internet and health stocks, who have profited from the coronavirus crisis.

Earlier in the day, European markets had stalled amid renewed concern on the health front. The EuroStoxx 50 fell 0.5% and the CAC 40 dropped 0.86% (and fell 7.1% year on year), while in Asia, Tokyo remained closed on Thursday, and the Shanghai Composite gained 1.7%.

Recovery continues in China, employment resists in the United States

On the economic front, the Chinese PMI indicators did not offer any major surprises in December, with a manufacturing PMI index of 51.9 (after 52.1 in November) and a services indicator of 55.7 (against 56, 4 in November). Activity has stalled, particularly on the export side, due to new health restriction measures taken by some of China's partner countries. These indices still confirm the continuation of the economic recovery in the second world economy, where cases of coronavirus are rare, a year after the start of the pandemic in the Chinese city of Wuhan.

In the United States, the weekly unemployment figures brought a good surprise after three weeks of deterioration. Thus, jobless claims for the week ended December 26 fell to 787,000 against 806,000 the previous week (-19,000). The market consensus expected a further increase in requests, to 830,000.

On the pandemic front, vaccine news was mixed on Thursday, amid criticism of the slow pace of vaccinations in the United States. The chief scientific adviser to Operation Warp Speed in the USA, Moncef Slaoui, estimated on Tuesday that the vaccine from AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford is unlikely to receive emergency use authorization before April in the United States.

Too slow, the vaccination campaign?

Moncef Slaoui said questions remain about the effectiveness of the vaccine in the elderly. He also questions the differences between the two branches of the study and believes that the American authorities need clearer figures concerning the combined efficiency of 70% claimed by AstraZeneca.

This vaccine received authorization in the United Kingdom earlier this week, but the European Medicines Agency indicated that it had not yet received the application file to authorize this vaccine, which would delay its approval in the European Union.

The rate of vaccination against the coronavirus is also controversial, especially in France, where the campaign has so far only made it possible to vaccinate around 330 people. In the United States, where more than 2.1 million people have been vaccinated over the past two weeks, voices are also being raised to denounce the slowness of the Trump administration, which had initially announced a target of 20 million people vaccinated. end of the year.

United States President-elect Joe Biden on Tuesday lamented delays in the distribution of Covid vaccines. "The Trump administration's plan for vaccine distribution is way behind schedule," he said, promising to "move heaven and earth" to pick up the pace. He renewed his promise of 100 million doses administered during the first 100 days of his mandate, which will officially begin on January 20.

For the financial markets, as for medical experts, mass vaccination is a sine qua non for ending the coronavirus crisis and for the fastest possible return to normal life and sustainable growth.

Calm end of the year for oil, gold and currencies

According to Johns Hopkins University, the number of confirmed cases of the new coronavirus worldwide since the start of the epidemic now stands at more than 83.1 million, including 19.8 million in the USA, 10.2 million in India and around 7.6 million in Brazil. The virus has claimed 1.83 million lives worldwide, including nearly 344,000 in the United States.

On the foreign exchange markets, the dollar index rebounded on Thursday, gaining 0.3% to 89.96 pts, but it lost 6.7% over one year, and ended 2020 near its lowest level since March 2018 against to a basket of six reference currencies. The euro fell 0.6% to $1.2217, not far from its highest in two and a half years against the greenback.

Oil prices stalled on Thursday. U.S. WTI light crude oil price fell 0.4% to $48.20 a barrel for the February Nymex futures contract, while February-maturity North Sea Brent fell 0.4% to $51.03. Over the year 2020, crude oil prices lost more than 20%, victims of the fall in demand linked to the Covid-19 crisis.

Gold rose 0.1% on Thursday to $1,895.10 an ounce on the February Comex futures contract, posting a 25% jump for the year, buoyed by crisis concerns of Covid-19. This is the best year for the yellow metal for 10 years (+30% in 2010).

VALUES TO FOLLOW

Amazon (-0.6%) announced on Wednesday its intention to acquire the American podcast studio Wondery in order to strengthen its position in the digital audio market. Already present in the audio book sector with Audible, the e-commerce giant did not specify the amount of this acquisition. The 'WSJ' had quoted sources estimating that Amazon could shell out more than $300 million.

Wondery is one of the leading podcasting studios in the United States, and claims around 20 million unique visitors-listeners per month, according to 'Variety' magazine. He specializes in documentaries, with the series Dr Death (adapted in French under the title of Dr La Mort) or Business Wars (Business war in French). Wondery also works for American news media, such as 'MSNBC', 'USA Today', the 'Los Angeles Times' or 'NBC News'.

Apple (-0.4%), the Californian technology giant from Cupertino, removed 39,000 video games from its application store in China today, in order to comply with the obligation to hold a license imposed on game publishers by local authorities.

Tiffany (steady). LVMH, the world leader in luxury, notes that the shareholders of the New York jeweler Tiffany have voted by a very large majority in favor of the amended merger agreement announced on October 29, 2020, relating to the proposed acquisition of Tiffany by LVMH , at an extraordinary meeting of Tiffany held yesterday. The finalization of this operation is scheduled for Thursday, January 7, 2021.

Acadia Healthcare (-1.8%) announced a definitive agreement to sell its UK operations to Waterland Private Equity, with net proceeds of approximately $1.35 billion.

Boeing (-0.3%) / Airbus (-1.6%). The European Commission deplored the decision of the United States, which announced its intention to increase customs duties for certain European products in the context of the dispute over subsidies to the aeronautical sector. Washington's behavior complicates the negotiations, says the EC, which will contact the Biden administration to reach a solution.

Tribune Publishing (+9.4%) could be bought out. According to the Wall Street Journal, which cites sources close to the question, the alternative fund Alden Global Capital plans to buy the press publisher, owner of the Chicago Tribune in particular, in which it already holds 32% of the capital.

ExxonMobil (-0.5%), the American oil colossus, intends to pass in its accounts for the fourth quarter asset impairment charges of around 20 billion dollars, according to a notification to the stock market authorities published yesterday.