(BFM Bourse) – The CAC 40 ended slightly lower on Thursday, navigating between stronger than expected inflation in the euro zone and a PCE index in line with expectations in the United States. Pernod Ricard suffered.
In a still very hesitant session, the coin finally fell on the wrong side for the Paris Bourse. The CAC 40 thus ended down 0.65% at 7316.70 points, the decline having accelerated at the end of the session. Over the whole month of August, the Parisian index lost 2.42% in total.
Thursday’s day was marked by data on inflation, particularly in the euro zone, where it stood at 5.3% in August, stable compared to July. But economists expected a lower rate, at 5.1%.
“The fact that the main rate of the harmonized consumer price index (measure of inflation, editor’s note) did not increase slightly while the base rate fell, combined with expectations for the coming months, gives the ECB (European Central Bank) a lot to talk about, which is perhaps a relief,” said Craig Erlam of Oanda. “A further (rate) hike in September still seems more likely than not to me, but following this release, the markets have changed their minds, estimating a nearly 70% chance that there will be no increase,” he added.
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Pernod Ricard in the hard
On the other side of the Atlantic, the PCE index, the Federal Reserve’s (Fed) favorite gauge for assessing inflation, was up 0.2% over one month in July, a figure in line with expectations.
The weekly jobless claims in the United States were slightly weaker than expected at 228,000 units against 235,000 expected by economists.
The market is now waiting for the US jobs report to be released on Friday afternoon.
On the values side, Pernod Ricard suffered, losing 6.7% after publishing results described as “mixed” by Royal Bank of Canada for its entire 2022-2023 financial year. In its wake Remy Cointreau fell 3.1%.
Values heavily exposed to Gabon, which had plunged on Wednesday, rebounded a little. Eramet won 11.4% and Maurel & Prom gained 5.45%.
On the other markets, the euro lost 0.7% against the dollar at 1.0848 dollar, in reaction to inflation in the euro zone. Oil prices are rising. The November contract on North Sea Brent crude rises 0.8% to $85.89 a barrel, while the October contract on New York-listed WTI is up 1.1% at $82.56 a barrel .
Julien Marion – ©2023 BFM Bourse