U.S. indices ended Wednesday in mixed order, following a session in which volatility was virtually extinguished, in contrast to the scenario observed the previous day. The VIX ended the day up just +2.9% at 21.3, after surging +10% at the opening. The associated S&P500 fell by -0.2% to 5,520, while the Dow Jones climbed 0.1% to 40,975.

The Nasdaq Composite failed to hold on to its meagre mid-session gains, falling by 0.3% to 17,084, despite Tesla's +4% and AMD's +2.9% leaps... as Nvidia dropped a further -1.6% and Dollar Tree collapsed by -22%, after -10% on August 28.

Wall Street failed to take advantage of Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic's comments, in which he expressed concern about the risk of leaving rates at 'restrictive levels for too long, which could pose risks and hit employment too hard'.

Wall Street also failed to react to the day's contrasting figures, which were rather on the wrong side when it came to growth, such as July's trade deficit, which jumped +8% to -$78.8 bn.

The monthly 'JOLTS' report then weighed on the greenback: 'open' job offers in the US fell by -3.3% to 7.67 million in July, the lowest level since January 2021, and far from consensus. Since peaking in March 2022, they have fallen by more than -4.5 million, or -38%.

The day's little ray of sunshine came from a strong rebound in US industrial orders: after falling by 3.3% in June compared with the previous month, they recovered by 5% in July.

On the bond front, the yield on 10-year US Treasuries eased by -9 basis points to 3.757%, while the 2-year fell by -10 basis points to 3.765%.

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