Advertorial — The CAC 40, Dow Jones, S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite all set new highs during the month of March. In France, three major themes carried the flagship index: luxury and beauty, energy transition and aeronautics-defense. A first rate cut is still expected in June in the United States.
The Paris Stock Exchange had an exemplary month of March, which allowed its flagship index, the CAC 40, to climb another 3.5%, as in February, to bring its gain to almost 9% since the start. of the year. This is its fifth month of increase in a row. He logically set new records, at more than 8,200 points.
Two explanations for this : First of all, the strength of the American markets. On the other side of the Atlantic, there too, the major indices are at new highs, whether it is the Dow Jones, the S&P 500 or the Nasdaq Composite. The trend was again driven by purchases linked to the craze for artificial intelligenceeven if the first movements of profit taking could for example be observed, during these last sessions, on the undisputed star Nvidia. Operators also remain convinced that the American Federal Reserve will lower its key rates several times this year..
Even if the fight against inflation is still far from won, the latest data observed correspond to what we want to see
, estimates Fed President Jerome Powell. He mentions the figures for the PCE price index for February presented at the very end of the month, which reflect an increase, certainly still high, of 2.8% over one year in “core” data, i.e. that is to say excluding volatile elements such as food and energy, but down slightly compared to 2.9% in January. A week earlier, the members of the Fed had assessed, in their “dot chart”, a graph showing their expectations of the level of interest rates each end of the year, at 75 basis points the monetary easing expected at the end of 2024, i.e. three reductions of 25 basis points between now and the end of December. For the moment, it is still hoped that the first of these will take place during the June meeting…
Three major promising themes within the CAC 40
In France, records have multiplied within the components of the CAC 40. In total, these are even 40% of index values which are thus at historic peaks or less than 10% of their highest without one being able to speak of the formation of a bubble. These records are rather a reflection of excellent business management, innovative products or services and the constant search for growth drivers.
Three major themes were in the spotlight… Luxury and beauty first of all (23% weighting within the flagship index) with solid performances presented by the two behemoths that are LVMH And Hermes. Next, the energy transition (16%), within which we find, for example, leading companies such as Liquid air, Schneider Electric, Great, Saint Gobain And Veolia Environment. Finally, aeronautics-defense, driven by the sharp increase in order books in civil aviation but also, more recently, by the strong interest in defense activities in a context of European rearmament. Airbus, Saffron And Thales now account for almost 10% of the index.
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