The floor of the New York Stock Exchange (GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP/EDUARDO MUNOZ ALVAREZ)
The New York Stock Exchange ended lower on Friday, let down by giant capitalizations in the technology sector, while the monthly employment report showed that the American economy was slowing.
The Dow Jones lost 0.18%, the Nasdaq index lost 1.16% and the broader S&P 500 index fell 0.65%.
“I think the market is overheated,” said Sam Stovall of CFRA. “Investors have gotten carried away and we need a break.”
A sign that the tide may have turned, Wall Street meteor Nvidia experienced the worst session in its recent history and fell 5.55%, after six consecutive positive days on the stock market.
The Santa Clara group, praised by the popularity of so-called generative artificial intelligence (AI), wiped out nearly 130 billion of market capitalization on Friday.
Most of the other tech giants were also affected, whether Meta (-1.22%), AMD (-1.89%) or Tesla (-1.85%).
The session was an opportunity for a repositioning, which benefited Apple (+1.02%) and Alphabet (+0.78%), the latter shunned on Wall Street.
In general, “we are witnessing a rotation, which penalizes the most popular values so far,” noted Sam Stovall.
The movement particularly benefits so-called defensive values, that is to say theoretically less sensitive to the economic situation.
The sports equipment manufacturer Nike (+0.99%), the food group Kraft Heinz (+0.99%) and the cable operator Comcast (+2.01%) were all sought after.
In the same vein, the medical sector was also popular, from Gilead (+1.98%) to Pfizer (+1.68%), via Moderna (+3.57%), as well as industry banking, with Morgan Stanley (+1.04) and JPMorgan Chase (+0.19%).
This rotation towards stocks deemed less volatile was also encouraged by the impression left by the monthly report on American employment, published Friday, which depicted a less buoyant labor market.
More than the 275,000 job creations in the United States in February, compared to only 200,000 expected by economists, operators focused their attention on several other data from the report published Friday.
They noted in particular the increase in the unemployment rate, to 3.9% compared to 3.7% in January, as well as the downward revision of more than a third of the job creation figure for January.
“This report suggests that the Fed (American central bank) can calmly set itself the objective of a first rate cut in June,” considers Quincy Krosby, of LPL Financial.
The yield on 2-year US government bonds, reflecting market expectations in terms of monetary policy, fell to 4.47%, compared to 4.50% the day before at closing.
If the report and its interpretation were more likely to support actions, the New York market preferred to focus on internal dynamics and valuation questions.
On the stock market, the Eli Lilly laboratory (-2.31%) suffered from the postponement, by the American Medicines Agency (FDA), of its decision on the Donanemab treatment, against Alzheimer’s disease.
The forecasts, considered moderate, from the semiconductor specialist Broadcom turned investors away from the stock (-6.99%).
The semi-wholesale chain Costco (-7.64%) paid a turnover lower than expectations, even if sales increased, particularly outside the United States and online.
The ready-to-wear brand Gap jumped (+8.23%) after publishing results above expectations. Sales increased, including at low-cost clothing chain Old Navy, which had not seen growth in 15 months.
After rebounding on Wednesday and Thursday, the regional credit institution New York Community Bancorp, which remains convalescing despite a recapitalization, fell again (-6.56%).
© 2024 AFP
Did you like this article ? Share it with your friends using the buttons below.
