La Jornada: Semiconductors drive stocks; the dollar weakens

The weak employment data in the United States briefly encouraged investors yesterday, as the prospect of an increase in interest rates receded, but they reduced their optimism for semiconductors and the markets closed mixed, while the dollar weakened.

Non-farm payrolls in the United States revealed that 57 thousand jobs were created in June, well below the market forecast of 114 thousand. The figure also represented a marked slowdown compared to the 129 thousand new positions the previous month. The unemployment rate fell to 4.2 percent.

In the midst of a less resilient US labor market and the continuity of the Agreement between Mexico, the United States and Canada (T-MEC) until 2036, but with annual reviews, the Mexican peso registered a daily appreciation of 0.39 percent, to close at 17.4795 units per dollar spot.

The employment data removed the possibility of a rate hike in the United States, which stopped the rise of the dollar. The DXY index, which measures the behavior of the US currency against a basket of six international currencies, fell 0.5 percent to 100,650 units. Thus, the Mexican peso took advantage of the weakness of the US currency.

Meanwhile, the Mexican Stock Exchange, which reached 68 thousand points at the start of the day, closed with a drop of 0.26 percent, up to 67 thousand 71.11 integers.

Despite the collapse of more than 7 percent of the Kospi index of South Korea and the Nikkei of Japan of 2.47 percent, due to the fall in the price of technology shares on Thursday, Wall Street started the day on Thursday on the rise, but deflated in the final stretch.

The non-farm payrolls data suggests that companies are hiring at a slower pace, which could anticipate the moderation of economic activity in the coming months.

Thus, the US employment data that is weaker than expected by the market and the decline in oil prices reduce the pressure on inflation, thus removing the possibility of an increase in interest rates by central banks, mainly the Fed, and encouraged investors to take positions in riskier assets during the morning.

In the end, the Nasdaq fell 0.8 percent, while the S&P 500 lost 0.01 percent and the Dow Jones advanced 1.14 due to strong pressure on semiconductors.

Most of the S&P 500 issues ended up, but the decline in technology, especially in companies linked to artificial intelligence, limited the performance of the index, so pressure on large-cap issues related to technology influenced investor nervousness.

The markets in the United States will remain closed this Friday for the Independence Day holiday, while the Mexican market will operate normally.