(BFM Bourse) – The Paris Stock Exchange has digested numerous decisions from central banks, including that of the Fed which has generally reassured the market. The CAC 40 ended slightly up 0.22% despite Capgemini which suffered from Accenture’s sales warning.
The Paris Stock Exchange is gaining a little ground, at the end of a day which was very busy with macroeconomic news.
The CAC 40 ended up slightly by 0.22% at 8,179.72 points, after experiencing a slight slump in the middle of the session. The flagship Parisian index even set a new record at 8,229.25 points in the first exchanges, reassured by the tone used by the American Federal Reserve following the monetary policy meeting.
“The financial markets showed their relief yesterday after the FOMC (monetary policy committee, editor’s note) meeting because the Fed confirmed that its majority scenario was to relax its monetary policy from this year”, note the Oddo economists BHF.
“During the press conference, Jerome Powell considered that the first rate cut could take place during the very next meetings. According to futures (futures contracts, Editor’s note), the implicit probability of a cut in June which had fallen below 50 % at the end of last week rose to around 70%,” they add.
The central bankers’ ball
Other central banks also delivered their verdict this Thursday. The Bank of England held its interest rate but indicated it was ready for monetary easing. “We currently believe the Bank will cut interest rates from August, although markets believe there is a greater chance it will do so in June following today’s meeting ‘today’, say the Nomura economists. The Bank of Norway also left its main policy rate unchanged at 4.5%.
A little earlier today, the National Bank of Switzerland, for its part, opened the door to rate cuts by major Western central banks. If some economists had counted on such a movement, the consensus rather held the month of June for a first cut.
The Swiss institution has decided to reduce its main rate by 25 basis points to bring it down to 1.5%. “With the Bank becoming more accommodating and inflation likely to be lower than forecast, we continue to forecast two further rate cuts this year,” writes Capital Economics.
Capgemini collateral victim of Accenture
On the value side, Forvia gained 3.5% benefiting from an increase in the purchase recommendation from UBS, leading in its wake Valeo (+2.1%), another major automotive supplier in the area. Parisian.
Remy Cointreau (+1.9%) is for its part supported by Deutsche Bank which went from “hold” to “buy” on the stock. The bank also went from “sell” to “hold” on Pernod Ricard which increased by 0.9%.
Conversely, Capgemini finished bottom of the CAC 40 (-2.7%), penalized by its American comparable Accenture which lowered its sales forecast for 2024.
On other markets, the euro lost 0.7% against the dollar at 1.086 dollars. Oil is falling. The May contract on Brent from the North Sea lost 0.65% to 85.39 dollars per barrel, while that of the same maturity on WTI listed in New York lost 0.7% to 80.68 dollars per barrel.
Sabrina Sadgui – ©2024 BFM Bourse