Paris ends up 0.37%, Frankfurt 0.22% and London 0.30%. All three are also progressing throughout the week. In Zurich, the SMI is up 0.14%.
Global stock markets varied little on Friday and bond yields tightened once more, following the report on employment in the United States, the elements of which should comfort the Fed to accelerate its monetary tightening.
The job market in the United States confirmed its solidity in March, with an unemployment rate now approaching its historically low level before the pandemic, at 3.6%, and above all a tremor of improvement on the front of the labor shortage.
Wall Street was down slightly: the Dow Jones lost 0.19%, the S&P 500 0.23% and the Nasdaq 0.21% around 3:50 p.m. GMT, following an opening higher.
The European indices closed in the green: Paris by 0.37%, Frankfurt by 0.22% and London by 0.30%. All three are also progressing throughout the week. In Zurich, the SMI gained 0.14%.
The bond market, in particular the American one, reacted to the publication of the report: the rates for short-term loans soared by ten basis points, and the American 2-year rate (2.436% around 3:45 p.m. GMT) even exceeding the 10 years (2.380% at the same time).
Indeed, the report “confirms the vision of the Fed (the American Federal Reserve) and the American government that full employment has returned to the United States” according to John Plassard, investment specialist at Mirabaud.
The strength of the labor market allows the Fed to consider accelerating the movement to raise key rates, which began in March, in order to fight once morest inflation, which has reached 40-year highs in the United States.
On the other side of the Atlantic, inflation in the euro zone broke a new record in March, at 7.5% over one year.
Elsewhere, on the geopolitical side, Russian-Ukrainian talks aimed at ending the conflict in Ukraine resumed on Friday, according to Kremlin negotiator Vladimir Medinsky.
The EU on Friday called on Beijing “not to interfere” in Western sanctions targeting Russia, warning that any support for Moscow will “seriously tarnish the reputation” of China in Europe, said European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, following a videoconference summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Oil in the $100 zone
In the followingmath of a sharp drop in prices, US President Joe Biden assured that “more than 30 countries” would follow the United States and draw on their strategic oil reserves to try to lower prices.
Around 3:30 p.m. GMT, a barrel of Brent from the North Sea for delivery in June, which is the first day of use as a benchmark contract, took 0.85% to 105.60 dollars.
The barrel of American West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for delivery in May fell below the symbolic bar of 100 dollars during the day, before rising (+0.43% to 100.69 dollars).
The US dollar rose slightly (+0.24% to 1.1040 dollars for one euro), with the prospects of monetary tightening by the Fed.
Bitcoin rose 1.80% to $46,560.
Hope for Chinese companies listed in New York
Chinese shares listed on Wall Street were paraded on Friday, helped by information from the Bloomberg agency according to which the Chinese authorities would consider giving access to the accounts of these companies to foreign auditors.
The American market regulator, the SEC, which relies on a law passed in Congress, has warned these companies that in the event of refusal of certification by an approved firm, they might be delisted as early as 2024.
In the lead, the Chinese e-commerce giants Alibaba (+403%), Pinduoduo (+7.06%) and JD.com (+3.51%).
Banks are progressing
The banks were reinforced by the rate hikes on the bond market: Deutsche Bank took 2.59%, Santander 2.85% in Europe.