(CercleFinance.com) – Wall Street is expected to extend its rise on Friday, with investors welcoming the latest job creation figures which argue in favor of an end to the cycle of Fed rate increases.
Half an hour before the opening, futures contracts on the main New York indices advanced from 0.3% to 0.4%, announcing a continuation of the favorable dynamic at work since the start of the week.
The Department of Labor announced this morning that the American job market suffered a significant slowdown in October, with the creation of only 150,000 positions, compared to 297,000 the previous month.
This figure, much lower than expected, suggests a slowdown in economic activity, which calls for moderation by the Federal Reserve with regard to its monetary policy.
‘In addition, job creations in previous months have been significantly revised downwards and the unemployment rate is now at its highest since January 2022,’ note Commerzbank analysts.
These data, which are however not weak enough to give cause for concern about the health of the economy, support the choice of patience made this week by the Federal Reserve in terms of rates, which supports the market.
Futures contracts on Wall Street indices jumped after this statistic, while the dollar trended downward, as did the yield on 10-year Treasuries which returned to a one-month low.
Proof that the monthly employment figures remove in the eyes of investors the risk of seeing the Fed continue to slow down activity, the probability of a rate increase in December falls below the 10% threshold.
The gains could, however, remain limited in view of the strong progression signed by Wall Street in recent days, due to the more accommodating approach chosen by the American central bank.
Over the week as a whole, the Dow Jones is currently up 4.3% and the Nasdaq is up 5.1% weekly.
The trend is also weighed down by the lackluster results of Apple, which last night revealed quarterly performances in line with expectations, which weighs on the stock in pre-opening.
iPhone sales exactly matched the $43.8 billion analysts expected, while revenue came in at $89.5 billion versus a consensus of $89.25 billion.
Stakeholders should now take note of the ISM services index which should indicate still positive growth in the sector, but below normal.
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