(New York) The New York Stock Exchange ended the week on a positive note on Friday, despite the surprise of a more dynamic than expected job market in the United States, the broader S&P 500 index posting its sixth week of ‘lined in the green.
The Dow Jones index gained 0.36% to 36,247.87 points and the technology-dominated NASDAQ advanced 0.45% to 14,403.97 points.
The S&P 500, which reached a new one-year high, rose 0.41% to 4604.37 points.
Wall Street finally welcomed the higher than expected figure for job creation in November (199,000 instead of 175,000 expected) as well as the unexpected drop in the unemployment rate to 3.7% compared to 3.9%.
These data could have raised fears of an overheating of the economy despite the efforts of the American central bank (Fed) to ease the labor market and inflation, through rate increases.
Bond yields on ten-year Treasury bills also climbed after the publication of the employment figures to settle at 4.22% around 4 p.m. (Eastern time), against 4.14% the day before.
“The labor market grew strongly despite the historic tightening of monetary conditions to combat inflation,” commented José Torres, economist for Interactive Brokers.
But he and many analysts have reported that November’s hiring figures were inflated by the return to work of almost 50,000 auto sector workers after the long strike by American manufacturers.
“If we remove the impact of the return of striking workers, the slow easing of the job market continues,” Angelo Kourkafas, investment strategist for Edward Jones, told AFP.
“The idea of a soft landing for the economy is reinforced by this report” on employment, he said.
In any case, the stock market was reassured in the morning by the state of American consumer confidence.
According to the preliminary survey by the University of Michigan, not only do households have better morale (at 69.4 points compared to 61.3 points in November), but above all their inflation expectations have fallen significantly.
“It is these data that have given the market a boost,” underlined Mr. Kourkafas.
On the value side, the action of the American industrial conglomerate Honeywell International lost 1.61%, after the group announced the purchase for almost $5 billion of a division of Carrier, specializing in the management of security of buildings. Carrier Global Corporation shares rose 4.50%.
Vacation club group Marriott Vacations Worldwide gained 4.15% as investors welcomed a 5% increase in the quarterly dividend.
Semiconductors like Intel (+1.30%) and Nvidia (+1.95%) were in demand.
The manufacturer of yoga clothing and sports equipment Lululemon levitated, soaring 5.37% to $489.64, an all-time high for the stock. The group’s quarterly sales rose 19%. The brand, however, revised its sales forecasts downward for the last quarter. These should still increase by 13 to 14%.
The photovoltaic equipment company First Solar shone (+0.83%), after being given a good rating by Morgan Stanley analysts.
Paperless document company DocuSign climbed 4.83%, following better-than-expected quarterly results with revenue of more than $700 million, up 9% year-on-year.
The Toronto Stock Exchange in the green
Strength in base metals and energy stocks helped the Toronto Stock Exchange post modest gains on Friday.
The S&P/TSX composite index on the Toronto floor gained 53.03 points, or 0.26%, to end the session with 20,331.54 points.
On the currency market, the Canadian dollar traded at an average rate of 73.59 US cents, up from 73.55 US cents on Thursday.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, the price of crude oil rose US$1.89 to US$71.22 per barrel, while natural gas fell less than US$1 cent to US$2.58 per barrel. million BTUs.
The price of gold fell by US$31.90 to US$2014.50 per ounce and that of copper appreciated by US$3 cents to US$3.83 per pound.
The Canadian Press