by Claude Chendjou

PARIS (Reuters) – European stock markets outside of London ended higher on Friday and on Wall Street, two of the three indices were also in the green, as relative calm returned to markets the day after a markedly lower session. by fears of prolonged monetary tightening.

Investors were particularly reassured by the slowdown in job creation last month in the United States, the US Department of Labor having reported only 209,000 job creations, the weakest pace in two and a half years, against 306,000 in May.

However, the official report on employment shows a stagnation in the unemployment rate at 3.6% over one year and above all an acceleration in the rise in the average hourly wage to 4.4% over one year.

“Jobs growth has slowed but remains too strong to warrant an extended Fed pause. More importantly, with average hourly earnings posting a surprise rise, wage pressures are still too strong,” said Seema Shah, strategist at Principal Asset Management.

“Today’s report will give the Fed little reason to hold back on raising rates at the July meeting,” she added.

This mixed data caused some volatility in the markets and at the time of the close in Europe, the Dow Jones was down 0.09%, while the Standard & Poor’s 500 was up 0.21% and the Nasdaq was up 0, 52%.

In Europe, the session was also hesitant before the CAC 40 in Paris ended with a gain of 0.42% to 7,111.88 points. The German Dax rose 0.48%. The British Footsie, penalized by the utilities compartment, ended down 0.32%.

The EuroStoxx 50 index rose 0.32%, the FTSEurofirst 300 gained 0.02% and the Stoxx 600 0.1%.

Over the week as a whole, however, the CAC 40 fell by 3.89% and the Stoxx 600 by 3.09%.

VALUES

In the news of listed companies, SES Imagotag shares climbed 31.59% on the Paris Stock Exchange after a new report from Gotham City, deemed less negative than feared, according to analysts.

Elsewhere in Europe, Coca Cola HBC, the bottler of the American soda group, jumped 5.09% on the back of an increase in its profit forecast for this year.

Clariant gained 4.85% after the publication of its quarterly results, while Just Eat Takeaway lost 2.07% following the lowering of the Exane board.

On Wall Street, the maker of jeans Levi Strauss fell 7.13% after revising Thursday evening downwards its annual profit forecast in a context of rising costs.

CHANGES

After the official US employment report, the dollar fell 0.76% against a basket of benchmark currencies, including the euro, which is at 1.0964 dollars (+0.72%).

The pound sterling is trading at 1.2832 dollars (+0.72%) the day after a two-week high, the markets estimate that the Bank of England (BoE) will have to raise its rates up to 6, 5% at the start of next year.

RATE

Short-term bond yields, the most sensitive to changes in interest rates, fell sharply after the US jobs report.

The two-year German lost in close about five basis points, to 3.31%, against 3.339% before the publication of the American Department of Labor.

The yield on two-year Treasuries for its part fell by 7.5 points, to 4.9122%.

OIL

The ebb of fears about interest rates is benefiting the oil market, which is heading for a second straight week of gains.

Brent crude advanced 1.62% to $77.76 a barrel, heading for its best closing performance since May 24. American light crude (West Texas Intermediate, WTI) took 1.73% to 73.04 dollars.

The two oil benchmarks should gain over the week as a whole around 4% and 3% respectively.

(Written by Claude Chendjou, edited by Jean-Stéphane Brosse)

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