Updated with closure of European markets
NEW YORK (awp / dpa) – The unexpected weakness of job creation in the United States in December weighed down the mood on Friday in markets which had already reacted badly by midweek to the prospect of accelerating normalization of the monetary policy of the US central bank.
The European stock markets ended in dispersed order.
Paris lost 0.42%, Frankfurt 0.65% and Milan 0.13% as inflation hit its highest level in 25 years in December, at 5% year on year, well above the European Central Bank target of 2%.
For its part, London gained 0.47% as the government eases the Covid test requirements for travelers arriving in England.
The New York Stock Exchange ended lower, with a more pronounced loss in technology, following the announcement of disappointing job creation in December in the United States.
The Dow Jones index remained close to equilibrium (-0.01%) but the Nasdaq fell 0.96%, its fourth decline in a row, and the S&P 500 fell 0.41%.
The US economy created 199,000 jobs in December when the consensus expected more than double (440,000), but the unemployment rate nevertheless continued to fall and more than expected, falling to 3.9% (-0.3 point percentage).
A sign of the continuing tension in the labor market, wages rose 0.6% last month in the United States.
“There is a lot to take in in the jobs report and it can sometimes take a little while,” said Craig Erlam, market analyst at Oanda.
“In the end, it should be remembered that the report does not make a rate hike or a reduction in the balance sheet of the US central bank less likely, especially with such a rise in wages,” he adds.
The yield on ten-year US government bonds reached 1.80% during the day, a level reached two years ago. They stabilized at 1.76% at 8:00 p.m. GMT.
At the start of the year, the financial markets are focused on the normalization of monetary policies at a time when the economy is in a deceleration phase.
They reacted negatively to the publication of the minutes of the last meeting of the US central bank in midweek, appearing to discover that it was not only considering a hike in key rates earlier than expected, as early as March, but also a reduction of its balance sheet shortly after to stem inflation (6.8% in November over one year).
Raw materials benefit
Inflation benefited mining stocks, Anglo American climbing 2.94% to 3,257 pence, BHP group gaining 2.69% to 2,305.50 pence and Rio Tinto appreciating 2.64% to 5,212 pence in London. In Paris, ArcelorMittal (+ 3.40% to 30.53 euros), Eramet (+ 2.88% to 78.70 euros) or even TotalEnergies (+ 1.14% to 46.46 euros) were at the top of the chart.
The automobile is moving backwards
After the gains made at the start of the week, automotive stocks have retreated: BMW (-0.64% to 95.60 euros), Continental (-1.59% to 96.71 euros), Daimler (-1, 80% to 73.56 euros), Porsche SE (-1.38% to 90.20 euros), Volkswagen (-0.72% to 187.74 euros).
A blow to bitcoin
The jobs report dealt a blow to the cryptocurrency bitcoin, star of the markets in 2021, which begins the new year sharply down, victim of risk aversion as central banks have gone into monetary tightening mode.
Friday around 10 p.m. GMT, bitcoin gave up 2.70% to 41,958 dollars, down more than 10% on the first sessions of the year.
Oil is ebbing, the euro is strengthening
Oil prices retreated after continuing to climb for the fifth day in a row this morning.
The price of a barrel of Brent from the North Sea for delivery in March fell 0.29% to 81.75 dollars. That of a barrel of West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for delivery in February dropped 0.70% to end at 78.90 dollars.
The euro strengthened against the dollar (+ 0.54%) to $ 1.1358.
bur-pan-vmt / nth