WALL STREET OPENS LOWER
PARIS (Archyde.com) – The New York Stock Exchange fell sharply on Friday in early trading, as fears over the escalation of the conflict in Ukraine far outweighed the sharper-than-expected rise in job creation in the United States .
In early trading, the Dow Jones index lost 1.15% to 33,405.31 points and the broader Standard & Poor’s 500 fell 1.05% to 4,317.49 points.
The Nasdaq Composite fell 0.84% to 13,423.978.
Global equities are in the red and safe havens sought after the announcement of a fire, now extinguished, near the largest nuclear power plant in Europe located in Ukraine and fallen into Russian hands.
The yield on ten-year Treasuries fell 11 basis points to 1.7341%, the euro widened its losses below the $1.10 mark and the price of gold gained more than 1%.
The publication of a report on employment considered solid by the president of the Federal Reserve of Chicago is clearly not enough to reverse the trend.
The US economy created 678,000 non-farm payrolls in February compared to 481,000 in January, the Labor Department said, while the Archyde.com consensus gave a figure of 400,000.
“Overall, the jobs report is positive and gives Fed Chairman Jerome Powell the green light to move forward with a 25 basis point hike at the next meeting, despite the geopolitical obstacles,” said Thomas Hayes, at Great Hill Capital.
Among the values against the trend of the downtrend, Gap gained 4.07% and Broadcom 2.07% after publishing forecasts above expectations, driven by strong demand.
(Laetitia Volga, edited by Sophie Louet)