Wall Street Reacts Mixed to Strong US Job Growth

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US stocks opened on Friday with mixed results. An important monthly jobs report pointed to a strong recovery in the labour market. American companies are hiring more and more staff, and unemployment in the world’s largest economy is falling rapidly as a result.

Last month, excluding agriculture, added 943,000 jobs in the United States, far more than average economists had expected. As a result, unemployment fell to 5.4 percent, from 5.9 percent in June.

While job growth is good news for the real economy, it could cause mixed feelings on stock markets. The fall in unemployment also means that the Federal Reserve may be able to reduce its stimulus policy sooner, as the goal of maximum employment approaches. As a result, interest rates can rise, making equities less attractive.

The Dow-Jones index was 0.5 percent higher shortly after the opening bell at 35,227 points. The broad S&P 500 gained 0.2 percent to 4439 points, and tech gauge Nasdaq lost 0.2 percent to 14,863 points.

United Airlines wants all American employees of the company to be vaccinated against the coronavirus. The 67,000 employees must be vaccinated before October 25. Otherwise, they risk being fired. United’s move will pressure other US carriers to follow suit. The share was 0.4 percent lower in the first trading minutes.

Alibaba issued a warning that the Chinese government will limit internet companies’ tax breaks and lose 1 percent. The operation will cost billions of dollars extra for the giant Chinese online store. Taxi app Didi won 3 percent. The Chinese company is reportedly considering relinquishing control over valuable data it has collected in order to appease Chinese authorities.

The American Duolingo lost more than 4 percent. As a result, the language learning app has been removed from Chinese app stores. Duolingo is working to fix the issue.

Beyond Meat released figures after trading on Thursday and lost almost 2 percent in market value. In the American home market, the turnover of the producer of meat substitutes in supermarkets fell. However, the company grew in the business market, such as in company canteens, now that many offices can open again.