Frankfurt After the zigzag course in the past two days, the most important indices on Wall Street start trading on Friday with significant losses. The Dow Jones of standard values was 1.1 percent lower at 12,632 points in early trading. The broader S&P 500 lost 1.2 percent to 4097 points. The technology-heavy Nasdaq lost a little more to 12,105 points.
However, new job data for April caused some optimism. Accordingly, 428,000 jobs have been created on the US labor market. Economists had only expected 391,000. The separately calculated unemployment rate remains at 3.6 percent – a level that should correspond to the full employment target of the central bank.
After the release of the data, some investors withdrew from the global dollar. The dollar index, which tracks rates against major currencies, extended losses on Friday, falling 0.3 percent to 103.28 points. In return, the euro appreciated to $1.0588.
The new jobs data are raising hopes that the Fed will manage the difficult balancing act between monetary tightening and possible risks to the economy. The central bank raised the key interest rate by 0.5 percentage points on Wednesday evening and reaffirmed its intention to continue to take strong action against the currently very high inflation in the country.
Top jobs of the day
Find the best jobs now and
be notified by email.
On Thursday, however, concerns dominated that the Fed would stall the economy if the Fed reacted too harshly. Accordingly, some dramatic losses set in: Dow and S&P each lost more than three percent, the Nasdaq index even lost five percent. There has never been such a weak trading day in the course of the year.
There was also a noticeable sell-off on the bond market. The yield on the 10-year US Treasury bond rose to its highest level since 2018. This trend continued on Friday, albeit at a moderate rate. Ten-year US bonds yield 3.113 percent. The return on paper with a 30-year term is just above that.
More: Despite a record loss in April, Cathie Wood buys shares for 280 million dollars