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 Dow Jones gained 0.01%, the Nasdaq gained 0.76% and the broader S&P 500 gained 0.36%.
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 has significantly increased the figures for the previous period, 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 that was 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%, once morest 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 bond market movement boosted Microsoft (+2.55%), Alphabet (+3.76%) and Meta (+2.18%), which together weigh nearly 20% of the Nasdaq index .
Also drafted, the semiconductor manufacturer Micron (+ 2.91%), suffering in recent days following reporting, last week, forecasts deemed cautious, and suffered from the opening of an investigation by the Chinese authorities. on its activities.
Elsewhere on the stock exchange, Airbnb was heckled (-4.90%) following the publication of a survey by the professional letter The Bear Cave, which shows that many companies managing properties posted on the platform are trying to circumvent it. and go live with users.
The Novavax laboratory soared (+ 11.46%) following the presentation, within the framework of the World Vaccine Congress, in Washington, of its new vaccine once morest the coronavirus and of results deemed encouraging from clinical trials of its vaccine combination. once morest Covid-19 and the flu.
Jeans benchmark Levi Strauss lost buttons (-16.03%) despite quarterly revenue and net profit beating expectations as investors held back on the San Francisco group’s cautious forecasts.
The semi-wholesale Costco brand was faltering (-2.24%) following reporting a marked drop in sales in March, a leading indicator of a possible slowdown in consumption.
The spirits giant Constellation Brands, which notably controls the beer brands Corona and Modelo, was sought (+ 1.45%). Despite declining sales, the group improved its margins in wine and spirits (excluding beers), which enabled it to post a net profit above expectations.
The titles of the AMC cinema chain jumped (+ 20.99%) following the refusal of a Delaware judge to speed up the procedure which should make it possible to convert preference shares, distinct from the rest of the titles, into ordinary shares, and thus increase the number of the latter.
The New York Stock Exchange will be closed on Friday, which portends renewed volatility on Monday, as the market might not react before the publication on Friday of the US employment report for March.
