The Dow Jones gained 0.39%, the Nasdaq index contracted 0.58% and the broader S&P index fell 0.28%.
For Spartan Capital’s Peter Cardillo, following a lackluster open, the drop in oil prices and the inflection in bond yields at the end of the day “helped bring back some confidence that we may no longer be very far from the peak rate”.
After rising to 3.92%, the highest in three months, the yield on 10-year US government bonds thus fell sharply, to 3.81%, below its level of the closing watch (3.86%).
The approach of a three-day weekend (Monday will be a holiday) also caused a low volume of exchanges, which brought the indices back into tight margins, according to Peter Cardillo.
Slight improvement on the inflation front, the prices of products imported into the United States recorded their weakest rise in two years in January.
But the indicator did not change the expectations of operators, who now expect almost 70% of a rate from the American central bank (Fed) beyond 5.25% by July, which means at least three quarter-point increases by then.
The president of the antenna of the Fed in Richmond (Virginia) Thomas Barkin and the governor of the Federal Reserve Michelle Bowman both pleaded on Friday, like many of their colleagues for two weeks, for a continuation of monetary tightening.
“People were ready to ignore this lackluster earnings season as long as macro data was favourable,” i.e. showed a gradual slowdown, says Jan Szilagyi of Toggle AI.
“But if they show that the economy is doing well and we are preparing for higher rates for longer,” he continues, “the market has a problem. What can make it go up? “
“It puts him in a situation he hates more than anything: uncertainty,” concludes Jan Szilagyi.
This context benefited so-called defensive stocks, i.e. from sectors that are theoretically less sensitive to the economic situation, such as the Merck laboratory (+2.83%), Coca-Cola (+1.52 %) or Walmart (+1.50%), which explains why the Dow Jones closed in the green.
Conversely, many so-called growth stocks, which depend on credit conditions to finance their development, drank the cup, in particular semiconductor manufacturers AMD (-1.97%), Qualcomm (-1, 87%) or Intel (-2.09%).
After rising by more than 27% in ten days, the Manchester United title took a breather (-1.90%), while the takeover offers from the English football club listed in New York were theoretically to be submitted to the later Friday.
The manufacturer of tractors and construction machinery Deere gained height (+7.53%) thanks to results well above expectations. The Moline, Illinois group reported sustained demand, which led it to raise its annual targets.
The DoorDash meal delivery platform fell (-7.59%), weighed down by a massive loss, and despite quarterly revenue and forecasts for the current year higher than anticipated by analysts.
The Moderna laboratory (-3.31%) suffered from the mixed interim results of clinical trials of its flu vaccine using messenger RNA technology, published on Thursday.
The flurry that hit commodity prices hit oil stocks, notably ExxonMobil (-3.85%) and ConocoPhillips (-3.91%), but also steelmakers US Steel (-5.94%) and Freeport -MacMoRan (-2.39%).
