(New York) The three major Wall Street indices set a record Friday, driven by good US employment figures and the prospect of anti-COVID-19 treatments soon to be widely available.
The Dow Jones finished up 0.56% to 36,327.95 points, the NASDAQ index, influenced by technology stocks, 0.20% to 15,971.58 points and the broader S&P 500 index, of 0.37% to 4697.53 points.
This is the seventh consecutive record for the S&P 500 and the NASDAQ, which on Friday posted its tenth consecutive session of increases.
The day had started on the hats of wheel, the Department of Labor reporting 531,000 jobs created in October in the United States, far better than the 400,000 expected.
The ministry also announced that the unemployment rate had fallen slightly to 4.6% (-0.2 point).
“This employment report gives the impression that we have made up for lost time,” observed Sam Stovall, head of investment strategy at CFRA.
The publication is “very solid” and “compensates for the weakness we had observed in previous months,” he added, especially since the job creation figures for the months of August and September were revised up sharply, with more than 230,000 jobs in total.
The lights are on the green, between the American economy which is picking up speed, companies whose results have not been really badly affected by supply constraints and an American Central Bank (Fed) which has only committed very cautiously on Wednesday on the way to monetary normalization.
“What’s interesting,” says Sam Stovall, “is that the market isn’t really worried about inflation just yet. ”
It is also the tone in the bond market. The ten-year US government bond rate fell to 1.45% for the first time since late September, two days after rising above 1.60%.
In the spotlight on Wall Street on Friday, Pfizer was towed (+ 10.86%) by the announcement of the first very positive results of its anti-COVID-19 tablet against severe forms of the disease.
The news weighed on its competitor Merck (-9.86%), the day after the marketing authorization by the British authorities of its own capsule against the coronavirus, but also Novavax (-11.21%) and Moderna ( -16.56%).
In the wake of Pfizer’s announcement, the entire tourism industry stepped out, led by cruise lines Carnival (+ 8.35%), Norwegian (+ 7.83%) and Royal Caribbean ( + 8.95%), but also Walt Disney (+ 3.14%) and the airlines United (+ 7.29%), Southwest (+ 6.44%) or American Airlines (+ 5.74%).
Another strong title, Airbnb (+ 12.97%), which signed between July and September the best quarter in its history and benefits from the evolution of uses and the development of teleworking, which diversify the forms of travel and rental of housing.
Also a beneficiary of the rebound in tourism, the online reservation site Expedia (+ 15.66%), which also exceeded expectations for its revenues and net profit. In addition to the strong growth in bookings, the increase in the average price also boosted the platform’s financial statements.
Uber also performed well (+ 4.24%) the day after the post-market publication of the first operating profit in its history since its creation, in 2009. The group is gradually rebuilding its pool of drivers, which had contracted sharply with the pandemic, and saw travel bookings jump 67% year on year.
Conversely, the exit from the pandemic is going badly for Peloton, which dropped 35.28% on Friday.
The specialist in exercise bikes and connected treadmills published a net loss above expectations on Thursday evening and significantly lowered its revenue forecast for its postponed fiscal year 2021/22 (from July to June).
The reason for this is the increase in attendance at sports halls, a direct competitor to domestic equipment which is very fashionable during the pandemic.
Since the end of July, the group has lost more than half of its market capitalization (-56%).
After the close, the title of computer security specialist McAfee jumped 20%, boosted by a Wall Street Journal article announcing an imminent deal to take over by private equity firm Advent International for a price greater than ten billion dollars. .