(BFM Bourse) – The Paris Stock Exchange confirms its return to 7,300 points, supported by the rebound in banking stocks and TotalEnergies. The CAC 40 closed up 0.7% before the publication of inflation figures for July in the United States on Thursday.
The Paris Stock Exchange resumed colors Wednesday evening, the day after a complicated session. Even if the CAC 40 saw its gains crumble over the course of the session, it still ended up 0.72% at 7322.04 points on Wednesday evening, still in a volume of transactions contained in this summer low ( €897 million).
The lull in the banking sector and the progress of TotalEnergies, one of its heavyweights, enabled the Paris star index to close in positive territory. On Wall Street, caution is palpable, investors are waiting with some nervousness for the publication of US inflation figures on Thursday. At the close of European stock markets, the Dow Jones fell 0.4% while the Nasdaq posted a more marked decline of 1.25%.
The tenor of the inflation figures could indeed give an indication of the US Federal Reserve’s rate intentions. A large proportion of investors (86.5%) are, however, expecting the status quo in September, according to the CME tool Fed Watch.
In China, the situation is diametrically opposite. For the first time since February 2021, the country entered deflation, with consumer prices contracting by 0.3% in July.
TotalEnergies and banks, stars of the day
TotalEnergies (+3.4%) remained in control on board the CAC 40 on Wednesday, benefiting from the rebound in oil prices to their highest since April. The barrel of Brent from the North Sea, for delivery in October rose by 0.9% to 87.01 dollars and its American equivalent, the barrel of West Texas Intermediate (WTI), for delivery in September gained another 1% to 83 $.78. Production by OPEC and its allies also reached its lowest level in nearly two years in July, according to a Platts survey by S&P Global cited by AFP. Excluding the star index, CGG ended up 4.05%, and Vallourec 1.5%.
European banks have benefited from the decision of the government of Giorgia Meloni to apply a ceiling to the tax on the “superprofits” made by transalpine establishments. If BNP Paribas (+1.4%) and Société Générale (+1.3%) maintained their progress following this information, Crédit Agricole finally closed down (-0.14%).
Publicis (-0.55%) which was the only CAC 40 stock to move into negative territory at mid-session, was finally accompanied by eight other stocks including Stellantis (-1%) after an analyst downgrade, Michelin ( -0.9%) or Teleperformance (-0.8%).
On the foreign exchange market, the euro remains up (+0.2%) at 1.0979 dollars. The single currency is benefiting from a weaker greenback, with a return of risk appetite in the markets and after statements by a US Federal Reserve official arguing for rates to be maintained in September.
Sabrina Sadgui – ©2023 BFM Bourse