Trader on the parquet floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE). (AFP / Timothy A. Clary)
The New York Stock Exchange ended up on Friday, driven by a wind of optimism after the publication of US employment figures better than expected and the possibility of commercial negotiations between Beijing and Washington.
The Dow Jones won 1.39%, the NASDAQ 1.51%index and the S&P 500 1.47%, this index erased all its losses since April 2, when Donald Trump announced a wave of prohibitive customs rights targeting Washington’s business partners.
The publication, before opening, of American employment data for the month of April “had the effect of a bomb (…), Wall Street being reassured on the solidity of the economy,” notes Jose Torres, of Interactive Brokers.
This new indicator shows that “concrete economic data still do not corroborate the worst fears of the market concerning customs duties”, notes with AFP Patrick O’Hare, from Briefing.com.
The unemployment rate remained stable last month in the first world economy, at 4.2%, according to the Ministry of Labor.
The United States has created 177,000 jobs over the period, less than a month earlier (185,000, revised downward figure), but more than what was envisaged by the markets (around 133,000, according to the consensus published by Marketwatch).
These are the first official data on employment covering the period following the spectacular announcement of President Donald Trump of a mountain of new taxes on products imported into the United States.
The latest employment figures have “still not really captured the entire real impact of customs duties”, underlines Patrick O’Hare.
But, underlines the analyst, “the market allows himself to adopt an optimistic approach, knowing that there are many current trade negotiations”.
-China announced on Friday “assess” a proposal for negotiations from Washington. US President Donald Trump assured him that there was “chances” that the two countries come to an agreement.
For its part, Japan praised “frank and constructive discussions” on Thursday with the Trump administration, at a time when Tokyo is preparing possible concessions and evokes the weapon of treasury bills.
Maybe optimism earns the American place, “operators turn to risky assets by buying actions in all sectors (…) while reducing their exhibition to the greenback, treasure goods,” says Jose Torres.
On the bond market, the interest rate of American state loans at ten years was clearly tied at 4.31%, against 4.22% Thursday at the end.
In addition, the results season continues to beat up.
The Apple giant accused the blow (-3.84%) after having published results higher than the expectations for the first three months of the year on Thursday, but warned that it expects a leap in its costs in the second quarter due to the American customs duties.
Amazon (-0.12%) did not benefit from better results than expected in the first quarter, supported by the dynamism of remote computers (Cloud) and artificial intelligence (IA). The group was somewhat weighted by forecasts below market projections, affected by an uncertain context.
Duolingo language learning app has jumped more than 21% after revising its forecasts up for the second quarter and the full year.
The American publisher of video games Take-Two Interactive, the parent company of Rockstar Games, plunged by 6.66% after announcing Friday the postponement of the highly anticipated “Grand Theft Auto VI” (“GTA VI”), new opus of the series of action video games, on May 26, 2026.
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