Tough US jobs push Wall Street, Nasdaq to new record highs. Milan closes flat

(Il Sole 24 Ore Radiocor) - The resilience of US employment and some solid quarterly reports were not enough for the European stock markets, which closed the last session of the week in the red with the Middle East uncertain. Piazza Affari ended unchanged and Frankfurt (-1.4%) and Paris (-1.1%) did worse. The standoff between the US and Iran - pending Tehran's response on the peace deal - continues to weigh on investor sentiment as mutual clashes in the Strait of Hormuz continue. However, US President Donald Trump has declared that the one-month ceasefire remains in place. The oil thus travels without too much of a jolt, heading for a decisive weekly loss.

Wall Street indices moved higher, with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite posting new records, following the US jobs report. In April, US employment (in non-farm sectors) increased by 115,000, exceeding consenus expectations, while the unemployment rate remained stable at 4.3 per cent, in line with expectations. "This confirms a still resilient employment dynamic: the US economy continues to create jobs, albeit at a slower pace than in the more robust phases of the cycle," notes Filippo Diodovich of Ig Italia. On equities, the stock of Coreweave Inc-Cl A lost ground, after its second-quarter earnings forecast disappointed Wall Street. The stock of Microchip Technology is up after the company reported better-than-expected earnings and revenues; it also provided better-than-expected forecasts for the current quarter.

On the currency, the euro travelled towards $1.18 (from $1.177 on eve of the close). Slightly upward trend for the spread between BTp and Bund. The yield differential between the benchmark ten-year BTp and the German Bund stood at 72 points, down from 75 points at the previous close. The yield on the benchmark ten-year BTp also rose slightly.