(BFM Bourse) – The Paris Stock Exchange is still regaining ground, caution having weighed on trade before the Fed’s minutes. Danone and Stellantis stood out when Korian had a nightmarish session after the publication of their annual results.
Abused from the first exchanges, the Paris Stock Exchange finally managed to limit its decline on Wednesday evening in the wake of the opening in slight progression of the American markets.
The CAC 40 closed the session down contained 0.13%, below 7,300 points to 7,299.26 points. The star index in Paris had lost more than 1% at lunchtime, traders wondering about the future pace of rate hikes by the main central banks. The latest statistics published on both sides of the Atlantic came out strong, prompting the European Central Bank and the US Federal Reserve to continue their restrictive monetary policy.
Tuesday’s PMI indices are totally in line with this trend. These numbers “helped push yields [obligataires, NDLR] higher in anticipation that central banks may be a little more inclined to raise rates in the coming weeks, and that seems to be weighing on the markets” this morning, noted Michael Hewson of CMC Markets.
James Bullard, the president of the St Louis Fed declared for his part on CNBC on Wednesday that he was in favor of a hike in federal rates to 5.375%, which would imply an increase of 0.75 percentage points to reach “the level rate terminal” capable of containing inflation.
Operators will therefore be very attentive to the information contained in the minutes of the last meeting of the American central bank. They will have to wait until 8 p.m. to get an idea of the Fed’s future direction in monetary policy. While waiting for this big meeting, the American indices are oriented very slightly in the green at the close of the European markets.
Danone and Stellantis at the top of the bill
If monetary considerations occupy the minds of investors, the fact remains that listed companies have continued to publish their results.
Danone is doing well, and finishes at the top of the CAC 40 (+4.50%) thanks to results that exceed expectations. Same observation at Stellantis which gained 2.2% with still impressive margins, although slightly down in the second half.
Conversely, Korian collapsed by 19.9% weighed down by plummeting profitability in 2022 and disappointing prospects due to exceptional costs intended to modernize and diversify its network of retirement homes.
The pan-European stock market operator Euronext was also penalized (-7.4%) after confirming its expressions of interest for the Spanish company Allfunds specializing in the distribution of funds.
On the other markets, the euro lost 0.25% against the dollar at 1.0625 dollars. Oil prices plunge heavily, weighed down by fears of a global slowdown. The North Sea Brent contract for April delivery dropped 2.6% to 80.86 dollars a barrel, while the WTI contract listed in New York and of the same maturity, lost 2.9% to 74.17 dollars on barrel.
Sabrina Sadgui – ©2023 BFM Bourse
