A New York Stock Exchange operator (GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP/SPENCER PLATT)
The New York Stock Exchange ended divided on Friday, after the strong and surprising US employment figures, the indices having initially reacted negatively to the news because it may be synonymous with future rate hikes.
The Dow Jones index concluded in the green at 32,803.47 points (+0.23%), the Nasdaq lost 0.50% to 12,657.55 points, after falling 1.30% in session. The S&P 500 fell 0.16% to 4,145.19 points.
It seems that the market has “rationalized its first impulsive reaction” which had been to collapse on the announcement, shortly before the opening, of 528,000 job creations against 250,000 expected for July, explained to AFP Patrick O’Hare of Briefing.com.
Investors finally “thought that these figures showed that the economy can withstand” the monetary tightening of the central bank (Fed).
“The other idea is also that the employment report is a lagging indicator” showing an already past state of activity and that “other reports will follow”, in particular that of inflation (CPI) the next week.
The fact remains that the equity market was hardly pleased with the jump in hiring, the 0.1 point drop in the unemployment rate to 3.5% and above all the increase in hourly earnings (+5.2% on the year) as investors fear that the central bank will tighten monetary policy even further to calm an overheated economy that is fueling inflation.
“These data are definitely stronger than expected. The market had the idea, after the last meeting of the Federal Reserve in July, that it was going to change course and do less” on interest rates, has explained Mazen Issa of TD Securities.
“But these figures run counter to this version and testify much more to an economy that is going to need to be restrained,” he added.
– Tensions on rates –
Bond yields rose sharply, pushing the greenback higher.
Rates on ten-year bills stood at 2.82% at 7:00 p.m. GMT against 2.68% the day before and those on 2 years jumped to 3.24% against 3.04%, the highest since July 20. , ahead of the last Fed meeting.
Better than at the opening of the session, however, five of the eleven S&P sectors ended in the green, notably energy (+2.04%) while crude prices rose slightly on Friday.
The American media and streaming giant Warner Bros Discovery was punished (-16.53%), the parent company of HBO, having recorded a turnover lower than expected and accusing losses.
Tesla fell 6.63% to 864.51 dollars as the general meeting of its shareholders endorsed an upcoming three-fold division of its share.
New developments have also occurred in the legal battle brewing with Twitter as Elon Musk backtracked on his plan to take over the social network. The billionaire has accused Twitter of “fraud” in court, on the number of its monetizable users.
Twitter shares rose 3.56% to $42.52.
Meta (Facebook) which had announced the day before the next launch of a massive loan on the market for the first time in its history, lost 2.03% to 167.11 dollars.
The group has also decided to take a temporary break in its project to acquire Within, a specialist in virtual reality, because the American competition authority FTC does not see this acquisition in a good light.
Lyft, Uber’s self-driving car rental competitor, jumped 16.62% to $20.28 after ridership returned to pre-pandemic levels and reported quarterly profits. best in its history.
Over the week, the flagship Dow Jones stock index was virtually stable (-0.13%), the technology-dominated Nasdaq climbed 2.15% and the S&P 500, the most representative index of the US market, nibbled 0.36%.
© 2022 AFP
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