by Caroline Valetkevitch
(Reuters) – The New York Stock Exchange ended higher on Friday after the publication of stronger than expected employment figures in the United States, which eased concerns about the deterioration in the health of the American economy.
The Dow Jones index gained 0.81%, or 341.16 points, to 42,352.75 points. The broader Standard & Poor’s 500 gained 51.13 points, or 0.90% to 5,751.07 points. The Nasdaq Composite advanced 219.37 points, or 1.22% to 18,137.849 points.
The September employment report exceeded all expectations on Friday, reporting 254,000 non-agricultural jobs created last month in the United States, against a consensus of 140,000, while the unemployment rate fell to 4 .1%, while analysts expected a stable rate of 4.2%.
The data reinforces expectations for a soft landing for the U.S. economy, following concerns a month ago over August’s jobs figures, which sharply disappointed investors and left them wondering if the Federal Reserve (Fed) had not waited too long before reducing its interest rates.
The figures “show that economic activity in the fourth quarter is expected to grow at a solid pace,” says Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at Spartan Capital Securities in New York.
“It’s a nice surprise but I also think it can reduce the pace of rate cuts.”
According to the CME’s FedWatch tool, the likelihood that the Fed will make a more aggressive 50 basis point cut – as it did in September – has fallen to around 10%, from around 30% before the numbers were released. .
Central bank President Jerome Powell already appeared to rule out the scenario of a 50 basis point cut earlier this week, advocating a gradual approach to monetary policy easing.
In values, RIVIAN dropped 3.2%, the electric vehicle startup, faced with a shortage of spare parts and a slowdown in the growth of demand for electric vehicles, having reduced its production forecasts for the year and having delivered fewer vehicles than expected in the third quarter.
Spirit Airlines’ stock fell 24.6% as the airline is in talks with its bondholders over the terms of a potential bankruptcy filing following the failure of its planned merger with JetBlue Airways JBLU .O, the Wall Street Journal reported Thursday, citing sources.
(Reporting by Zhifan Liu)
Copyright © 2024 Thomson Reuters
I have over 8 years of experience working in the news industry. I have worked as a reporter, editor, and now managing editor at 247 News Agency. I am responsible for the day-to-day operations of the news website and overseeing all of the content that is published. I also write a column for the website, covering mostly market news.
