(CercleFinance.com) – The New York Stock Exchange rose sharply on Friday, supported in particular by energy stocks, after having digested a lackluster employment report.
At the end of the morning, the Dow Jones won 1.4% to 33,511.4 points, while the Nasdaq Composite advanced 0.8% to 13,206.7 points.
Figures released an hour before the opening showed the US economy added 339,000 non-farm payrolls in May, a number well above the consensus target of 230,000.
This stronger-than-expected statistic could have revived fears of a new tightening of the Federal Reserve, which is very attentive to labor market developments.
But the Department of Labor announced at the same time that the unemployment rate had increased by 0.3 points to 3.7% of the labor force last month, which is a real surprise.
Another sign of slowdown in the labor market, the number of job creations last month is well below the average of 370,000 new jobs generated each month last year.
‘We also see that those who have a job tend to work fewer hours,’ adds an analyst. ‘And the increase in wages is starting to slow down,’ he adds.
As a result, the CBOE volatility index, which had already fallen below 20 at the end of last month, continues to decline to fall to one-year lows below the threshold of 15.
Driven by the recovery in oil prices, energy-related stocks (+2.2%) are among the main drivers of market growth, alongside the consumer (+2.9%) and materials sectors. first (+3%).
Over the whole week, shortened due to ‘Memorial Day’, the Dow Jones has so far posted a gain of 1.2%, while the Nasdaq is up 1.8%.
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