(New York) Global markets initially took a dim view of strong US employment figures, fearing further monetary tightening, before tempering and ending close to balance.
European stock markets ended the session in mixed order: Paris lost 0.17% and Milan 0.26%, while London ended stable and Frankfurt gained 0.27%. Over the week, some posted slight declines, others slight increases.
In New York, the Dow Jones gained 0.10%, while the NASDAQ index lost 0.18% and the broader S&P 500 index edged down 0.12%.
In November, 263,000 net jobs were created in the United States, well above the 200,000 that analysts had expected. The unemployment rate remained stable at 3.7%, a very low level.
These figures show that the labor market remains solid despite the measures taken to slow economic activity in order to curb inflation.
In addition, wages increased by 0.6% over one month, double what was expected.
The release “damped market gains” as investors took time to reassess the prospects for US central bank (Fed) rate hikes in the coming months, according to CMC Markets analyst Michael Hewson.
For Mr Hewson, the scenario of a half-point increase in the Fed’s key rate in December is not in question, but these figures make “less likely a rapid slowdown in the pace of rate hikes l ‘next year “.
As the hours passed, operators revised their judgment and finally welcomed this news of a job market that was still vigorous, despite a series of rate hikes by the Fed and the onset of an economic slowdown.
“This report is a positive development for the economy and lends credence to the hypothesis that the Fed could succeed in bringing the US economy to a soft landing,” said Peter Essele of Commonwealth Financial Network.
“Investors realize that the pace of job creation continues to decelerate”, even if it remains higher than expected, “which gives the Fed the luxury of continuing to raise its rates, at a more moderate pace”, said Quincy Krosby of LPL Financial.
“What we are looking for now is continuity in the market,” she continued, “to know if it can hold next week. »
After a jump in the wake of the publication of employment figures, the US dollar retreated slightly against the euro (-0.20% to 0.9487 euro for one dollar), as well as against the pound ( -0.36%) to 0.81,396 pounds to the dollar.
Boeing takes off
The aircraft manufacturer Boeing (+4.03% to 182.87 dollars) took off after the publication of information from the wall street journal that United Airlines is about to place a major order for 787 Dreamliners.
The aircraft manufacturer helped push the Dow Jones index into the green, thanks also to the support of a few so-called defensive stocks, that is to say theoretically less sensitive to the economic situation, such as Coca-Cola (+0.88% ), Procter & Gamble (+0.91%) or 3M (+0.79%).
Adidas sold out
The sports equipment manufacturer Adidas (-0.53%) offered the German national team jerseys on Friday at a 50% reduction on its online site, after the country’s elimination from the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, whose brand to the three stripes is one of the main sponsors.
On the side of oil and bitcoin
Oil prices ended slightly lower on Friday, after Westerners capped the price of Russian oil at $60 and ahead of an OPEC+ meeting on Sunday.
A barrel of Brent from the North Sea for delivery in February lost 1.50% to 85.57 dollars.
Its American equivalent, the barrel of American West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for delivery in January, also lost 1.50% to 79.98 dollars.
Bitcoin gained 0.47% to $17,014.