The Paris Stock Exchange chained a fifth rising session on Thursday, pushed by new signals of the slowdown in inflation in the United States and the promise of a close stop to rate hikes by the American Central Bank.
The star CAC 40 index gained 36.79 points to 7,369.80 points. Since the start of the week, it is up 3.63%, on track for its best week since late March.
It even exceeded 7,400 points during the session, a first since early July.
“There are significant disinflationary forces,” confirmed by the latest U.S. data on Wednesday, says Michael Nizard, multi-asset investment director at Edmond de Rothschild AM.
The CPI consumer price index came in 3.0% below expectations and the lowest since March 2021.
The American Central Bank “will have more and more difficulty justifying the rise in rates, beyond its meeting in July”, he explains.
Thursday, this signal was confirmed by the publication of the producer price index (PPI), which emerged up only 0.1% in June over one month, against 0.2% expected by economists.
The interest rates for government borrowings on the bond market have consequently fallen markedly.
The interest rate of the French 10-year loan fell around 3%, against 3.09% on Wednesday at the close and 3.21% on Tuesday.
Investors will now look to the earnings season, which will be focused on the next two weeks.
“We will have to pay attention to the impact of the rise in the euro” and the evolution of corporate margins, warns Mr. Nizard. It will also look at whether companies will communicate on the growth that can be gained thanks to the possibilities offered by artificial intelligence.
Falling interest rates make people happy
Companies whose stock market prices are the most linked to changes in interest rates have benefited from their relaxation, as they have throughout the week. This is the case in the technology sector, with Teleperformance which gained 2.64% to 157.70 euros and STMicroelectronics which took 1.47% to 47.17 euros.
Luxury also benefited, with a gain of 1.22% to 877.30 euros for LVMH, 0.83% to 1,964.80 euros for Hermès.
The Unibail-Rodamco Westfield land also took 0.80% to 53.18 euros.
Carrefour wants Cora and Match
The French distributor Carrefour ended stable (-0.03% to 17.28 euros) after announcing an agreement with the Belgian group Louis Delhaize “for the acquisition of the Cora and Match brands in France”, a transaction “including the finalization is expected in the summer of 2024,” Carrefour announced on Wednesday evening.
Casino dropped 2.53% to 3.23 euros. The distributor in great financial difficulty has revised its financial forecasts for 2023 downwards after sales fell sharply in its supermarkets in the second quarter, it announced on Wednesday evening.
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