(New York) European stock markets closed higher on Friday, with the exception of London, which was rather relieved by the employment figures in the United States, but Wall Street mainly retained the acceleration in wages.
In New York, the Dow Jones ended down 0.55%, the NASDAQ fell 0.13% and the broader S
In Europe, London is the exception, the only place in the area to close in the red (-0.32%). Paris gained 0.42% and Frankfurt 0.48%.
In the past month in the United States, 209,000 jobs have been created, according to the Department of Labor, while 220,000 were expected by analysts according to the consensus published by Briefing.com.
“These figures show a marked slowdown in the job market, which indicates that the rate hikes are starting to take effect,” comments Christophe Boucher, Chief Investment Officer at ABN Amro IS.
Some economists dwelt on the rise in wages, which reached 0.4% over one month, more than the 0.3% expected, a sign that the specter of inflation continues to hang over the American economy.
“Average hourly wages have increased slightly, but taking into account the relatively low number of hours worked per week, overall wage pressures remain moderate,” said Christophe Boucher.
In the wake of the U.S. central bank’s upcoming monetary policy meeting on July 25-26, investors are watching for any clues that could influence the Fed’s decision whether or not to raise its key policy rate.
While the markets are expecting a rate hike in July, they are also wondering about further hikes by the end of the year.
Hydrocarbon giant Shell said on Friday that its gas sales are expected to be “significantly down” in its second quarter results, compared to a “good” first quarter in particular and despite stable production.
The action reacted little, but was nevertheless in the green in London (0.79% in London). AJ Bell analyst Russ Mould notes that results are to be “less impressive than recent quarters.” In the first quarter, Shell recorded net profit up 22% year on year to $8.7 billion.
In London, BP gained 0.70%. In Paris, TotalEnergies took 1.03%.
Levi Strauss dropped (-7.73%) after lowering its annual forecast, in particular due to difficulties in sales activity to retailers in the United States. The icon brand of American jeans saw sales drop 22% in the second quarter in its home country.
Alibaba advanced (8.00%) after Chinese authorities fined its mobile payments subsidiary Ant Group around $1 billion. This decision marks the end of a government investigation that will have lasted several months and removes the uncertainty that weighed on the company.
The Frankfurt Stock Exchange gave way on Friday to Thyssenkrupp’s hydrogen entity, Nucera, which closed at 24.34 euros, up 18.85% from its entry price of 20 euros per share.
Oil prices climbed to their highest level in two months on Friday as the slight easing in the U.S. job market shed fears that the U.S. central bank could overdo it on rate hikes to the point of stalling the economy. ‘economy.
A barrel of Brent North Sea oil for September delivery climbed 2.54% to $78.47. Its US equivalent, a barrel of West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for August delivery, gained 2.86% to $73.86.
On the foreign exchange market, the euro gained 0.70% against the dollar, to 1.0966 dollars.
Bitcoin was near flat (-0.05%) at $30,257.
