(Boursier.com) — Wall Street showed no underlying trend on Friday, after its break the day before for Thanksgiving… A very calm half-session for the occasion: The S&P 500 stagnated (-0.03 %) at 4.0326 pts, the Dow Jones rose 0.45% to 34.347 pts. The Nasdaq, on the other hand, lost 0.52% to 11,226 pts with Apple, which fell 2% on the major concerns in China of its subcontractor Foxconn. There were no notable statistics or quarterly publications from companies listed on the American market today. On the Nymex, a barrel of WTI crude remains discussed at $76.70. The dollar index rose 0.3% against a basket of currencies.
The latest surge was helped in particular by the narrative revolving around the ‘peak of the Fed’ (the famous pivot point), after the minutes of the FOMC (monetary meeting) of November, which showed that officials considered a slowdown in the pace of rate hikes as appropriate given the risks of excessive tightening, and allowing time for the Fed to assess the impact of the tightening already implemented.
China offered mixed news, with additional actions from the People’s Bank of China and Beijing, as well as a record number of Covid cases on Thursday, adding to risks from further supply chain disruptions. The BPC therefore announced on Friday a reduction of a quarter of a point in the rate of compulsory reserves for banks, a measure likely to promote credit and therefore support the economy. The cut, effective from Dec. 5, is expected to free up some 500 billion yuan of liquidity. The initiative, which follows a previous cut of 25 basis points in April, was expected.
On the side of the “headwinds” on the stock market, we still find fears of a slowdown in American growth in a context of monetary tightening, the messages of the Fed concerning the political trajectory of raising rates and maintaining lasting higher rates, easing consumer demand trends, geopolitical uncertainty and risks to corporate earnings for 2023.
Additionally, ECB and BoE officials continue to support further tightening, but markets are pricing in a move towards a more moderate pace as the economic slowdown gathers pace…
Values
Apple (-2%) and Foxconn are still in the news this Friday, as the Taiwanese group also known as Hon Hai Precision Industry has reportedly reached an initial agreement with its employees to resolve the dispute at the main production site. iPhone Chinese. The Reuters agency nevertheless indicates that the difficulties of Foxconn could affect up to “more than” 30% the deliveries of iPhones in November from the Chinese factory. Production of iPhones at this Foxconn plant in China’s Zhengzhou, “iPhone City”, is therefore expected to fall this month after unrest and employee protests disrupted operations, an official told Reuters on Friday. person with direct knowledge of the matter. The estimate is an upward revision of an internal forecast from October, which mentioned a potential production impact of “up to” 30% at the world’s largest iPhone factory.
Following the workers’ uprising this week at the factory, the source added, it was ‘impossible’ for the company to resume full production by the end of the month – a deadline which would have been set internally before the surge Wednesday’s protests.
More than 20,000 Foxconn employees have reportedly left the Zhengzhou plant, a company source with knowledge of the matter told Reuters on Friday. Most of these employees would have been recruited recently and had not yet started working on the production lines.
Amazon (-0.7%). In the United States, in Germany or even in France … Amazon employees around the world were called to strike this Friday, on the occasion of Black Friday, which is one of the peaks of activity. for the e-commerce giant. Mobilization actions and strikes are planned in more than thirty countries, according to “Make Amazon Pay”. The collective at the origin of this call claims in particular that the American group remunerates its employees fairly and renounces tax optimization. “This is the first time that Amazon has been faced with a call for an international strike,” said Monika Di Silvestre, representative of the Verdi union at Amazon, deeming this movement to be “very important, because we cannot oppose a large multinational like Amazon only on a local, regional or national level”.
Manchester United climbs another 12.8%, while the British football club is now for sale. The market capitalization on the American market reaches 3.7 billion dollars. The owners of the club are exploring strategic options, which could lead to a sale. The Glazer family is working with financial advisers on the process, which could also lead to a partial sale or investments including the redevelopment of the stadium and infrastructure. “As we seek to continue to build on the club’s history of success, the board has authorized a thorough assessment of strategic alternatives,” said Avram Glazer and Joel Glazer, Manchester United’s executive co-chairmen and directors. “We will evaluate all options to ensure that we best serve our fans.”
You’re here (-0.2%) announced that its ‘Full Self Driving (FSD) Beta’ software is now available in North America. The American manufacturer of electric vehicles has also decided to recall more than 80,000 vehicles produced in China due to a problem with software and seat belts, according to Chinese authorities.
Activision Blizzard (-4%), while Politico reported that the American FTC (Federal Trade Commission) could try to block the acquisition of the video game publisher by Microsoft (steady).