(BFM Bourse) – The Parisian index closed again at the top this Thursday, while having recorded a new highest mark during the session this Thursday. However, the operators were absent subscribers on the eve of a four-day cut with Good Friday and Easter Monday.
One point can make the difference. The Paris Stock Exchange picked up a tiny point this Thursday evening, on the eve of a four-day break with Good Friday and Easter Monday. The CAC 40 thus gained 0.01%, a symbolic increase which is sufficient to set a new closing record at 8,205.81 points. And like Wednesday, this closing peak was accompanied by an absolute session high of 8,253.59 points.
The market did not overreact to the latest fourth quarter US GDP estimate. Growth in the United States has been revised slightly upwards, to 3.4% at an annualized rate compared to 3.2% previously announced. Consumption, which is the main driver of the world’s largest economy, was more robust than expected, with spending increasing by 3.3%.
As for traditional weekly unemployment registrations, they came out slightly lower than expected at 210,000 for the week of March 23.
Over this shortened week, the CAC 40 recorded a gain of 0.66%, and 3.5% over the month of March. A performance which allows the flagship Parisian index to end this first quarter with a gain of 8.78%.
Waiting for the PCE index
The long pause provided little incentive for market operators to take risks. “The last trading day before a long weekend can often be volatile,” comments Stephen Innes quoted by AFP. “Identifying a specific market driver” by counting “the end-of-month dynamic (…) is akin to finding a needle in a haystack,” he continues.
The big market event, the publication of the PCE index, the American Federal Reserve’s preferred measure for gauging inflation, will take place Friday afternoon. The Parisian market will then be closed. European markets will have to wait until Tuesday to react to the content of these figures.
Soitec dives, VusionGroup rises
Lots of news on the values side. At the top of the SBF 120, VusionGroup (formerly SES Imagotag) ended up 11.1% after the group published significantly improved results, released cash, and announced the payment of a dividend.
Trigano jumped 10%, the leisure vehicle specialist still recorded strong growth in the second quarter despite a more demanding basis of comparison.
Conversely, Soitec plunged 20.6%, returning to the low levels of summer 2020 after warning that its sales would fall sharply in the first half of its 2024-2025 financial year.
Note that Casino, suspended on Wednesday, continued its stock market plunge on Thursday evening (-63.4%) after having already fallen by 64% on Monday and 45% on Tuesday. These variations are not surprising because the distributor’s price corrected in the run-up to a massive influx of new shares issued as part of its major financial restructuring (around forty billion shares in total). The settlement and delivery of these shares took place on Wednesday.
Casino had warned that the theoretical price of its share – once the various capital increases linked to this restructuring were completed – would be at 0.07 euros or even 0.06 euros taking into account all dilutive instruments. However, the Casino price was still trading at 54 cents last Friday…
On other markets, the euro fell 0.1% against the dollar to 1.0805 dollars. Oil is growing. The June contract on Brent from the North Sea advanced 1.4% to 86.61 dollars per barrel, while that of May on WTI listed in New York gained 1.7% to 82.75 dollars per barrel.
Sabrina Sadgui – ©2024 BFM Bourse