(New York) The New York Stock Exchange closed close to balance on Wednesday, supported by good indicators regarding employment in the private sector, which offset the unfavorable results of certain large companies.
The Dow Jones gained 0.09%, the NASDAQ index 0.08% and the broader S&P 500 index 0.01%.
The New York market was relieved by the encouraging results of the ADP/Stanford Lab survey published Wednesday, according to which private sector companies in the United States created 143,000 jobs in September, more than in the month of August and more than expected by analysts.
The survey “comes at a time when we are concerned about the weakness in the job market, so I think it was well received,” Art Hogan of B. Riley Wealth Management told AFP.
“Markets are breathing a sigh of relief” thanks to this report which “adds credibility to the argument that economic and working conditions remain strong,” said José Torres, of Interactive Brokers, in a note.
The bond market became tense after the release of the ADP report. The yield on 10-year US government bonds rose to 3.78% compared to 3.73% the day before at closing.
Wall Street is now awaiting the publication, on Friday, of the government report on job creation in September in the United States, private and public sectors combined.
The oil market ran out of steam at the end of the session on Wednesday after an initial surge, operators’ concerns about the increase in production from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) outweighing the renewed tension in Middle East.
After a decline on Wall Street the day before, anxiety has in fact gradually “dissipated” today; “For the moment, most of the attack has been repelled, the damage is minimal and the oil infrastructure has not been damaged,” raised Mr. Hogan.
On the stock market, shares of health insurer Humana fell 11.79% after announcing changes to the rating of its Medicare plans.
The American sports clothing and equipment group Nike (-6.77%) faced the consequences of its declining results, although better than consensus expectations.
The automobile sector has also been losing momentum. Despite the publication of delivery figures in line with forecasts, electric vehicle specialist Tesla lost 3.49% at the end of the session, with investors expecting better.
The American automobile group Ford, for its part, lost 2.51% due to a slowdown in sales in the United States.
“Although there are some problems specific to certain companies […]the market as a whole seems to be holding up well,” argued Art Hogan.
Toronto Stock Exchange
The S&P/TSX Composite Index closed down 32.44 points at 24,001.55.
The Canadian dollar traded at 74.12 US cents compared to 74.05 US cents on Tuesday.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, the price of crude oil rose 27 cents to US$70.10 per barrel and natural gas rose one cent to US$2.89 per million BTUs.
Gold was down US$20.60 at US$2,669.70 an ounce and copper was up six cents at US$4.65 a pound.
The Canadian Press