(New York) The New York Stock Exchange ended the week on a positive note on Friday, despite the surprise of a more dynamic job market than expected in the United States, the broad index S
The Dow Jones index gained 0.36% to 36,247.87 points and the tech-heavy NASDAQ advanced 0.45% to 14,403.97 points.
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Wall Street finally welcomed the higher-than-expected job creation figure in November (199,000 instead of 175,000 expected) as well as the unexpected decline in the unemployment rate to 3.7% from 3.9%.
These data could have raised fears of overheating of the economy despite the efforts of the American central bank (Fed) to relax the labor market and inflation, through rate increases.
Bond yields on ten-year Treasury notes actually climbed after the release of the employment figures to stand at 4.22% around 4 p.m. (Eastern time), compared to 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 workers after the long strike by U.S. 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 this data that has 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 stock 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.
Yoga clothing and sports equipment maker Lululemon levitated, soaring 5.37% to $489.64, an all-time high for the stock. The group’s quarterly sales climbed 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-over-year.