(New York) The New York Stock Exchange ended the week at record highs on Friday, supported by good employment figures released earlier which confirmed the strength of the recovery in the US economy.
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All three indices traded at historic highs at the close. The Dow Jones gained 0.44% to 34,786.35 points, the NASDAQ 0.81% to 14,639.32 points and the broad S&P 500 index posted its seventh consecutive record, taking 0.75% to 4,352, 34 points.
An hour before the opening of the session, the day had been favorably oriented by the publication of the monthly report on US employment.
The US economy created more jobs than expected in June, to 850,000 jobs against 680,000 expected by a consensus of analysts.
“The general tone of the report corresponds to a rapid reopening” as the threat of the pandemic recedes, “but not without difficulties,” said Chris Low, chief economist at investment firm FHN Financial.
The slight increase in the unemployment rate (+0.1 point to 5.9%), the fact that millions of former workers are still missing from the world of work, and the tensions on the supply of industry US markets have dampened market enthusiasm, as evidenced by the measured progress of the indices.
The set “ruled out any concerns that the report would push the Fed to act faster than expected,” commented Pat O’Hare of Briefing.com, which could have been the case if the economy had given signs of overheating. For him, “the market is comfortable with the idea that the Fed has understood the situation well”.
Side values, after a euphoric session Thursday the day after its IPO, the Chinese application of passenger vehicles with driver (VTC) Didi Chuxing dropped 5.30% to 15.53 dollars.
The Chinese Cybersecurity Supervisory Authority announced on Friday that it was investigating the group, which will not have the right to accept new users until the investigations are completed.
Electric vehicle maker Lordstown Motors has also had a rough day after the Wall Street Journal reported an ongoing Department of Justice investigation into the group’s activities.
Already the subject of an investigation by the US regulator of financial markets (SEC), Lordstown lost Friday 10.82% to end at 9.23 dollars.
Still in the transport chapter, but space ones, Virgin Galactic jumped 4.05% to 44.94 dollars, supported by the announcement that the British billionaire Richard Branson, founder of the group, plans to fly to the space from July 11, pulling the rug from under the foot of another billionaire, Jeff Bezos, whose flight is scheduled for July 20.
Among technology stocks, IBM has yielded 4.64% to 140.02 dollars, weighed down by the announcement that its number two Jim Whitehurst was going to leave office. This is a new step in the reshuffle initiated in early 2020 by the new CEO Arvind Krishna, who seeks to get the IT group back on track by prioritizing the cloud.
The main Canadian stock index also entered the second half of the year in record territory. The S & P / TSX Composite Index closed 60.53 points higher at 20,226.11 points.
The Canadian dollar was trading at 80.95 cents US from 80.68 cents US on Wednesday.
The price of crude oil fell seven cents to US $ 75.16 per barrel and the price of natural gas rose $ 3.9 to US $ 3.70 per million BTUs.
Gold prices ended up US $ 6.50 to US $ 1,783.30 per ounce and copper prices gained four cents to US $ 4.28 per pound.
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