New York (AFP)

The New York Stock Exchange ended the week down Friday, down in the aftermath of new records, after a report on employment and unemployment in the United States rather disappointing.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.46% to 28,823.77 points. The star index of the New York place, however, exceeded for the first time at the beginning of the session the symbolic threshold of 29,000 points before erasing its gains, then going into the red.

The highly technological Nasdaq lost 0.27% to 9,178.86 points and the broad S&P 500 index fell 0.29% to 3,265.35 points.

The main indices of the New York place had ended at unprecedented levels Thursday thanks in particular to the lull between the United States and Iran, the specter of a military escalation between the two countries seeming to disappear after a sudden rising tensions at the end of last week.

Over the week, the Dow Jones rose 0.7%, the Nasdaq 1.8% and the S&P 500 0.9%.

"After breaking records again this morning, the indices tried to go higher but failed," said JJ Kinahan of TD Ameritrade.

"After a turbulent geopolitical sequence last weekend and then a calming down during the week, investors' appetite for risk weakened a little on Friday afternoon," added the expert.

- New setbacks for Boeing -

Market players also digested worse-than-expected figures for job creation and wage increases in the United States on Friday, according to a monthly report from the Department of Labor.

In total, 145,000 jobs were created in the last month of 2019. Analysts expected 160,000.

This is much less than the 256,000 registered in November (revised down) whose total had been inflated by the return of General Motors employees after their historic strike.

The evolution of the average hourly wage continued to disappoint in December, with an increase of only + 0.1% while analysts projected + 0.3%.

On the other hand, the unemployment rate remained at 3.5%, at its lowest level in 50 years.

Investors will be watching rivals next week on Wednesday for the signing of a preliminary trade agreement between the United States and China, designed as a truce in the trade war between the two countries.

"I think most of the market players will be relieved," said Kinahan.

President Donald Trump warned Thursday that the ratification of a "phase 2" deal could be postponed until after the US presidential election in November.

On the bond market, the 10-year rate of American debt was down, at 1.816% around 21:25 GMT, against 1.854% the day before at the close.

In terms of values, Boeing lost 1.91%, this decline weighing heavily on the Dow Jones. The American Congress revealed on the night of Thursday to Friday old internal messages from Boeing employees denigrating the American air regulator (FAA) and the developers of the 737 MAX aircraft, which are in particular qualified as "buffoons" and "monkeys".

In addition, the American group Spirit AeroSystems (-4.25%), a major subcontractor to the aircraft manufacturer, has announced that it will lay off around 16% of its workforce, or 2,800 employees, due to the suspension of production of the 737 MAX. , grounded since March after two fatal crashes.

Grubhub fell 6.01%. The specialist in home meal deliveries denied press reports to CNBC indicating that the company was considering several strategic options, including a sale or acquisition.

Urban Outfitters lost 4.69%. The clothing store chain reported disappointing sales figures during the holiday season.

© 2020 AFP