The New York Stock Exchange opened higher on Monday, buoyed by better-than-expected results from Goldman Sachs, but also by the possibility of a new term for Donald Trump.

In late morning trading, the Dow Jones advanced 0.8% to 40,315.7 points, while the Nasdaq Composite gained 1.1% to 18,617.9 points.617.9 points.

With earnings season set to accelerate this week, Goldman Sachs (+1.4%) was one of the Dow's biggest risers, reporting 150% growth in second-quarter net income, boosted in particular by its equity market activities.

In all, some 45 S&P 500 companies, including five Dow Jones companies, are due to publish their accounts this week, including Bank of America tomorrow.

Johnson & Johnson, Netflix and American Express will also be on the calendar in the coming days.

Investors also seem to be regaining some risk appetite in the light of the latest developments in the US election campaign.

No polls have been released following yesterday's assassination attempt on Donald Trump, but political observers expect the episode to benefit the Republican candidate, against a Joe Biden who is finding it increasingly difficult to convince.

From an investor's point of view, Trump's tax policies should indeed have positive effects for stock markets and growth.

'If he wins the election, he is likely to extend, or even increase, the tax cuts he introduced in 2017', predicts one trader.

The CBOE index of volatility on US markets nonetheless rallied by more than 3% to 12.9 points.

All the major S&P sectors were in the green, with the exception of healthcare (-0.1%) and utilities

As a result of the markets' conviction that the Republican candidate can win, the dollar regained ground against the euro, which fell back towards 1.0910%.

Renewed risk appetite is also pushing up Treasuries yields, with the 10-year note flirting with 4.22%, compared with less than 4.20% on Friday.

Among the stocks that stand out on the downside of this general upward movement, Macy's dropped more than 13% after it was announced that discussions for its takeover by investment funds Arkhouse and Brigade Capital had been abandoned.

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