Wall Street closed slightly lower on the last day of a volatile month

This content was published on May 31, 2022 – 20:01
May 31, 2022 – 20:01

(AFP)

The New York Stock Exchange closed slightly lower on Tuesday on the last day of a month of high volatility amid market concerns about inflation in the United States.

Thus, the main index, the Dow Jones Industrial Average, closed down 0.67% at 3,2990.12 points. Meanwhile, the Nasdaq Technology Index fell 0.41% to 12081.39 units, and the expanded S&P 500 Index – of the largest 500 listed companies – fell 0.63% to close at 4,132.15 points.

In the month, after days of turmoil after the first rise of half a percentage point in reference interest rates by the Federal Reserve (the Federal Reserve, the US central bank) at the beginning of May, the Nasdaq lost 2%. For their part, the Dow Jones and S&P 500 indexes ended the month with marginal gains.

Schwab analysts summarized, “Continuing inflation that has prompted the Fed to adopt monetary policy tightening recently is raising concerns about lower economic activity and the possibility of a recession.”

Europe’s consumer price index sounded the alarm, hitting 8.1% in the year to May, a record high, according to statistics agency Eurostat.

At the opening, Wall Street received this data poorly but managed to limit its losses during the day.

– Inflation under fire –

On Tuesday, Democratic President of the United States Joe Biden met Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell in a rare meeting to discuss the fight against inflation.

Powell, 79, met with Powell and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen in the Oval Office of the White House to discuss “the (Executive’s) top priority: responding to inflation to achieve the transition from an economy in revitalization to sustainable and sustainable growth.”

The meeting is unusual. The Biden administration has generally maintained a distance from the Federal Reserve, which is an independent entity.

On the other hand, Powell did not make any statement to reporters.

The Fed will meet in two weeks to assess, among other things, the level of interest rates.

Inflation eased in April, after hitting a 40-year high in March. However, it is still high, at 6.3% according to the 12-month benchmark PCE followed by the Federal Reserve (central bank), and 8.3% according to the PCI, a benchmark for pension calculation.

In terms of indicators, consumer confidence slipped slightly in May in the US, and Americans expect less spending in the coming months due to persistent inflation and higher interest rates, the Conference Board reported on Tuesday.

The index, which measures confidence in the US economy, reached 106.4 points in May, compared to 108.6 in April. In any case, the number is much better than expected by analysts who had expected a drop to 103.7 points.