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MARKET REVIEW. The New York Stock Exchange ended higher on Thursday, spurred by the continued decline in bond rates, which carried the giant capitalizations of the technology sector, capable, on their own, of leading the market.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index closed slightly higher.
To (re)consult market news
Stock market indices at closing
In Toronto, the S&P/TSX closed up 37.14 points (+0.18%) at 20,196.69 points.
In New York, the S&P 500 rose 14.64 points (+0.36%) to 4,105.02 points.
The Nasdaq collected 91.09 points (+0.76%) to 12,087.96 points.
The DOW rose 2.57 points (+0.01%) to 33,485.29 points.
The loon closed down US$0.0018 (-0.2372%) at US$0.7414.
The oil fell US$0.12 (-0.15%) to US$80.49.
L’or dropped US$12.40 (-0.61%) to US$2,023.20.
The bitcoin fell by US$167.23 (-0.59%) to US$27,984.72.
The context
The session had started in the red, misguided by the 228,000 new jobless claims last week in the United States, significantly more than the 200,000 expected by economists.
In addition, the US government revised the figures for the previous period sharply upwards, from 198,000 to 246,000.
“This shows that the labor market is weakening,” commented Edward Moya of Oanda in a note. “The data related to all these announced layoffs is starting to show.”
On the eve of a holiday (Good Friday) without a session on Wall Street, trading was moderate, according to Jack Ablin of Cresset Capital, in an atmosphere already not conducive to risk taking.
Initially descending, the tide nevertheless ended up rising, to the point of pushing, in extremis, the three star indices into the green.
This reversal “owes a lot to the relaxation of bond rates,” explained Jack Ablin. “That’s what helped tech stocks.”
The yield on 10-year US government bonds stood at 3.29%, against 3.31% the day before closing. Earlier, it had fallen to 3.24%, the lowest in seven months.
Technology stocks are particularly sensitive to changes in interest rates, which influence the financing of their often rapid growth.
The movement in the bond market stimulated Microsoft (MSFT, +2,55% à 291,60$ US), Alphabet (GOOG, +3.76% to US$108.90) and Meta (META, +2.18% to US$216.10), which together weigh nearly 20% of the Nasdaq index.
Also drafted, the semiconductor manufacturer Micron (MU, +2.91% to US$58.56), suffering in recent days after reporting, last week, forecasts deemed cautious, and suffered from the opening of an investigation by the Chinese authorities into its activities.
Elsewhere on the coast, Airbnb was heckled (ABNB, -4.90% to US$109.69) after the publication of a survey of the professional letter The Bear Cavewhich shows that many companies managing properties posted on the platform are trying to circumvent it and go live with users.
The laboratory Novavax soared (NVAX, +11.46% to US$8.46) after the presentation, as part of the World Vaccine Congress, in Washington, of its new vaccine against the coronavirus and of results deemed encouraging from trials clinical trials of its combination vaccine against COVID-19 and influenza.
The jeans reference Levi Strauss lost buttons (LEVI, -16.03% to US$15.14) despite quarterly revenue and net profit beating expectations as investors held back on the San Francisco group’s cautious outlook.
The semi-wholesale brand Costco was faltering (COST, -2.24% to US$485.98) after reporting a marked drop in sales in March, a leading indicator of a possible slowdown in consumption.
The giant of spirits Constellation Brands, which notably controls beer brands Corona and Modelo, was sought after (STZ, +1.45% to US$224.64). Despite declining sales, the group improved its margins in wine and spirits (excluding beers), which enabled it to post a net profit above expectations.
Movie theater chain titles AMC jumped (AMC, +20.99% to US$4.9000) after a Delaware judge refused to speed up the procedure which should allow preference shares, separate from the rest of the securities, to be converted into ordinary shares , and thus increase the number of these.
The New York Stock Exchange will be closed on Friday, which portends renewed volatility on Monday, as the market could not react before the publication on Friday of the US employment report for March.
