By Swann Collins, investor, writer and consultant in international affairs. Eurasia Business News – April 2, 2022

Dow Jones Stock Exchange, Manhattan, New York City- Photo credit : Swann Collins.

The New York Stock Exchange closed slightly higher on Friday after the publication of monthly employment figures in the United States by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, which confirmed the good health of the American economy and confirmed the hypothesis of a acceleration of monetary policy tightening by the Federal Reserve. Progress in Russia-Ukraine peace talks have also reduced investors worries.

Total nonfarm payroll employment rose by 431,000 in March, and the unemployment rate declined to 3.6 percent, the lowest since February 2020. Notable job gains continued in leisure and hospitality, professional and business services, retail trade, and manufacturing.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.4%, or 139.92 points, to 34,818.27 points.

The broader S&P-500 gained 15.45 points, or 0.34%, to 4,545.86 points.

The Nasdaq Composite advanced 40.98 points (0.29%) to 14,261.50 points.

Over the past week, the S&P gained 0.1%, the Dow Jones fell 0.1% and the Nasdaq eroded 0.7%.

The unemployment rate declined by 0.2 percentage point to 3.6 percent in March, and the number of unemployed persons decreased by 318,000 to 6.0 million. These measures are little different from their values in February 2020 (3.5 percent and 5.7 million, respectively), prior to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

These figures confirm both the dynamism of the U.S. labor market and the persistence of inflationary pressures, which could lead the Fed to raise rates more quickly in the coming months.

Defensive stocks like real estate, utilities groups and consumer staples posted the strongest sector gains, above 1%.

GameStop gained 0.95% after announcing that it would seek the agreement of its shareholders for a split in the nominal value of its share, which would increase the number of shares in circulation, from 300 million currently. to 1 billion.

Read also : How to invest in gold

Amid this high inflation in the euro zone and in the U.S., gold prices have been growing over the past month and reached yesterday a high of $1,940 per troy ounce, before stabilizing at $1,926 per troy ounce at closure on April 01, 2022 04:59 PM NY Time.

On February 22, gold prices reached $ 1,913 per troy ounce and stabilized at $ 1,899 at closure time.

Bitcoin price reached $46,724.50 on April 2, 11:58 AM Paris time, gaining 3.63% in one day, while Ethereum price hit $ 3,496, gaining 6.73% in one day.

To contact the author, write at : swann.collins.consulting@gmail.com

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© Copyright 2022 – Swann Collins, investor and consultant in international affairs.