(BFM Bourse) – The Parisian index accelerated its losses Friday at the end of the session, groggy under the blow of the inflexible comments of the boss of the Fed. After two consecutive sessions in the green thanks to reassuring quarterly publications, the CAC 40 is back below 6600 points and erases the gains made since the start of the week.
The comments of the President of the Federal Reserve of the United States have tempered the bullish tendencies of the Parisian index. The CAC 40 index ends this week down 1.99% to 6,581.42 points. On a weekly basis, the Paris Stock Exchange saw its gains soar with a performance of -0.12%, the flood of corporate publications failing to stop the downward movement triggered by the Fed boss.
Displaying himself inflexible in the face of inflation, Jerome Powell confirmed a probable increase of 0.5 point in the Fed Funds rate at the next meeting, after 0.25 point at the previous one. For reference, since 2006 (ie before the “Great Financial Crisis”) the central bank has not had to raise its rates in two consecutive meetings, which testifies to the current degree of urgency.
This session was also marked by the continuation of company publications relating to the first quarter, with a more mixed reception.
Speculative fever on Ubisoft
The discreet French champion of inspection and certification services Bureau Veritas found itself at the top of the bill for once, regaining nearly 4.6% after reporting an acceleration in its organic growth over the past first three months of 2022. The dynamism of Ipsos (+4.51%) during the period was also appreciated, while Boiron jumped 4.41% after posting a rebound (of nearly 60%) of its sales compared to a first quarter of 2021 which had turned out to be particularly depressed.
Holcim – the Swiss group that had swallowed Lafarge – climbed nearly 4% in view of an increase in its 2022 target in the wake of a record first quarter.
Casino shares ended the week up 2.24% despite an organic decline for most brands in the first quarter.
Figeac Aéro (+5%) or Groupe Crit (+2.74%) also received praise after their respective publications.
In other news, Ubisoft ended the week on an 11.20% rebound with no apparent news. The video game publisher is still considered by analysts to be a prime target in a sector in full consolidation.
Bad draw for FDJ
In the other direction, the disappointment was particularly strong for Kering (-4.32%) as the growth of its flagship brand Gucci slowed even more than analysts expected. EssilorLuxottica lost 2.62% while management was implicitly cautious about the outlook for the year by still refraining from quantified targets.
Up over much of the session, Renault turned down less than an hour from the close. The action finally lost 1.34%. The group reported a decline in quarterly sales, partly caused by the 34% drop in Russia and the effects of the shortage of semiconductors. The manufacturer maintains the idea of a possible quotation of its electrical pole.
Stock market star of this beginning of the year with more than 40% increase, investors discovering the interest of its technologies for the storage and transport of liquefied natural gas at a time of search for sovereignty (or at least less dependence) on energy, GTT fell by 4.24% after the announcement of its quarterly turnover.
FDJ finally dropped more than 5%, despite a good start to the year and the confirmation of its 2022 objectives, both in terms of business growth and margin rate.
The corrective movement also affected oil prices, causing Brent to fall by 2.31% to 106.32 dollars (102.20 dollars for WTI, -1.53%) at the end of the day. At this level, prices still show a large increase over a rolling year…
The inflexible nature of the latest statements by Jay Powell favored the greenback at the expense of the euro in particular, which fell 0.47% to 1.0786 dollars.
Sabrina Sadgui
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