(BFM Bourse) – The Paris Stock Exchange gained a little ground at the end of a day marked by numerous statistics published on both sides of the Atlantic. The CAC 40 ended up 0.29% on Wednesday evening.
The Paris Stock Exchange recovers a small part of the land granted the day before. The CAC 40 closed up 0.29% at 8,153.23 points after dropping 0.9% on Tuesday, and thus signed its worst session since January.
However, such an increase in the flagship Parisian index was far from certain, as the private employment figures in the United States testify to the robustness of the labor market in the world’s largest economy. According to the ADP report, the United States created 184,000 positions in the private sector in March, more than the 150,000 anticipated by consensus and the 155,000 positions created in February.
Above all, a component linked to prices has revived fears about the persistence of inflationary tensions in the country. Wage growth for employees who changed jobs actually jumped from 7.6% to 10% last month.
Conflicting statistics
But this day is rich in statistics and contradictory information since the ISM report showed a clear deceleration, in March, of prices paid in the services sector. This figure, considered a leading indicator of personal consumption expenditure (PCE) inflation, fell to 53.4 points, a four-year low, from 58.6 in February.
For his part, the president of the Atlanta Fed, Raphael Bostic, estimated this Wednesday that the persistence of inflation risked forcing the American central bank to only lower its rates at the end of the year. These comments therefore contradict the expectations of investors, who are still counting on three rate cuts from the American central bank in 2024, according to the CME Group’s FedWatch tool.
In Europe, investors are still counting on a first rate cut from the European Central Bank in June. The first estimate of inflation in the euro zone brings hope. Consumer prices increased less than expected, by 2.4% year-on-year in March, compared to 2.5% expected by the consensus and after 2.6% in February.
Nexity stands out
On the stock side, Nexity gained 4.3% after finalizing the sale of its property administration activities for an amount of 440 million euros to the Bridgepoint fund.
Among small and mid-caps, Valbiotis jumped 7% after announcing the marketing in May of its anti-cholesterol food supplement.
On the other hand, Lacroix fell by 6.9%. Investors sanctioned the content of the annual accounts but also the prospects formulated by the Nantes electronics group founded in 1936.
On foreign exchange, the euro regained 0.5% against the dollar at 1.0826 dollars. Oil prices have appreciated significantly in recent days due to encouraging economic indicators in China but also the geopolitical situation in the Middle East.
This Wednesday, black gold contracts are still gaining ground. That of June on Brent from the North Sea rose 0.9% to 89.73 dollars per barrel, while that of May on WTI listed in New York rose 0.8% to 85.83 dollars per barrel.
“The rebound in oil prices poses a challenge to the inflation outlook, as it helps reverse the disinflationary trend caused by the fall in energy prices last year,” notes Stephen Innes of Spi Asset Management.
Sabrina Sadgui – ©2024 BFM Bourse