US stock markets fell significantly on Friday. At the close of trading in New York, the Dow was calculated at 41,938 points, a minus of 1.6% compared to the previous trading day.
Minutes earlier, the broader S&P 500 was around 5,825 points, down 1.5%, and the Nasdaq, the technology-focused stock market, was calculated at around 20,848 points, down 0.6%.
The US labor market report caught the markets off guard. According to the US Labor Ministry, US companies created around 256,000 new jobs outside of agriculture, significantly more than expected. The US Federal Reserve must therefore take less account of the labor market in its monetary policy, as it remains resilient. After the Fed’s protocol for the December rate-setting meeting, in which a slower rate-cutting course was discussed due to the slightly rising inflation and the migration and customs plans of the future US President Donald Trump, there are now voices that bring rate increases back into the game.
The European common currency was weaker on Friday evening: one euro cost 1.0244 US dollars, and one dollar was accordingly worth 0.9762 euros.
The gold price was able to profit, with 2,693 US dollars being paid for an ounce in the evening (+0.9%), equivalent to a price of 84.51 euros per gram.
Meanwhile, the oil price rose strongly: a barrel of the North Sea’s Brent type cost around 22:00 German time on Friday evening at 79.67 US dollars, a 3.6% increase from the close of the previous trading day.