New York (AFP)

The New York Stock Exchange was near equilibrium soon after opening clearly in the red on Friday, hesitating between worse than expected figures on American employment and the rebound in oil prices.

Around 1:50 p.m. GMT, its flagship index, the Dow Jones Industrial Average, fell by 0.04% to 21,405.27 points.

The Nasdaq, with a strong technological coloring, gleaned 0.15%, to 7,498.81 points, and the broad index S&P 500 took 0.12%, to 2,529.81 points.

Wall Street had ended in the green Thursday a jagged session, hesitating between the soaring oil prices and the explosion of unemployment benefit requests in the United States: the Dow Jones had taken 2.24% and the Nasdaq 1.72%.

Friday, figures released by the Labor Department formalized the first effects of the health crisis which has paralyzed a good part of the world economy for several weeks.

The unemployment rate, which had fallen in February to 3.5%, the lowest level in 50 years, has suddenly risen to 4.4%.

The economy destroyed 701,000 jobs destroyed over the month, the largest number since March 2009, in the midst of the financial crisis.

And the addition should get heavier since the report does not include the last two weeks, which have seen nearly 10 million new unemployed claimants.

"The employment situation therefore seems more worrying than previously suggested if we agree that the peak of the coronavirus is far from being reached in the United States," said John Plassard of Mirabaud Securities.

Wall Street's reaction to these pessimistic figures, however, remained subdued.

For Patrick O'Hare of Briefing, this is probably linked to the fact that oil prices are showing a sharp rise for the second session in a row while OPEC confirmed Friday the holding of a meeting of its members and allies Monday, the day after Donald Trump made announcements about possible cuts in Saudi and Russian production.

"The market seems to believe that the renewed vigor in oil prices, if confirmed, could help avoid bankruptcies in the sector," said the specialist.

On the bond market, the 10-year rate on the US debt rose slightly, and moved to 0.584% against 0.597% on Thursday at the close.

© 2020 AFP