(BFM Bourse) – Usually without much repercussion on the markets, the publication of the minutes of the last meeting of the Federal Reserve this time resulted in a downturn on the part of investors, the day after new highs for the CAC 40.
It was difficult to imagine that the Parisian market would continue its forward march at the rate at which it started in 2022 (+ 3.1% over the first three sessions of the year, bringing its increase from the trough to almost + 10%). beginning of last December). In the aftermath of a new historic high reached at the close, the Parisian market retroceded nearly 130 points on Thursday, ending down 1.72% to 1.08% to 7,249.66 points around 12:15 p.m., in a volume of extremely heavy exchanges of 4.2 billion euros.
The slightly more restrictive tone adopted by the Fed at its last monetary policy meeting than expected appears more as an excuse to indulge in some profit taking than as a real surprise, according to Jeffrey Halley, analyst at Oanda. The minutes revealed that members of the monetary policy committee felt that “the risks of high inflation were now persistent, and that there was general agreement on accelerating rate hikes, with three hikes. provisional rate plans. That is exactly what we were told at the “post-FOMC” meeting by President Jerome Powell. The only surprise, if you can call it that, is that some members felt that the Fed should start to reduce its balance sheet shortly after its first rate hike “commented the specialist, taking care to warn less experienced investors that the start of monetary normalization will result in more marked movements than in the previous 18 months, and be prepared for more volatility – both ways.
“The discussion on the quantitative tightening in the minutes is very significant” judges Antoine Bouvet, senior rate strategist at ING, according to whom “this shows above all the extent of the change in tone of the Fed, which is considering a more aggressive reduction in its balance sheet in parallel with the “(rate) hikes. This possibility continues to support the yields of US government bonds and by extension those in Europe. The yield on the ten-year US Treasury bill rose to over 1.743%, the highest since spring 2021.
Carrefour driven by a potential Auchan offer
In Paris stocks, this trend has resulted in a new positive trend in banking stocks, Crédit Agricole and BNP Paribas gaining respectively 1.15% and 1.3%. Societe Generale, for its part, took 1.9%, after announcing the acquisition project, by its subsidiary ALD (+ 8.35% for the latter), of its Dutch competitor LeasePlan, the European leader in rental long-life vehicles, for nearly 5 billion euros. It was nevertheless Carrefour which dominated the charts of the star index with a new gain of 6.3%, following an increase of 5.1% on Wednesday, to be blamed on rumors of a new takeover offer. to come by Auchan.
On the other hand, the so-called growth, technological and luxury sector stocks in the lead, took the blow (-4.7% Hermès, -4.4% for Capgemini, -3.9% for Hermès, – 4.1% for Teleperformance, -4% for LVMH etc.).
On the rest of the coast, the resumption of specific company news is felt at the end of the traditional truce for confectioners. Dassault Aviation thus took off by nearly 3%, the highest since the summer of 2021, thanks to the spectacular growth in its order book over one year (+ 50%), both in the civilian and military sectors. The credit insurance specialist Coface, on the other hand, stumbled by 10.3% after the withdrawal of Natixis, which sold its last block of 10% in the capital for nearly 175 million euros.
Sodexo said Thursday that the use of teleworking companies this winter could weigh on its volumes, but wanted to reassure about the economic consequences as long as the new measures put in place remain short-lived. After dropping 2% in the morning, the title grabbed 0.4%. The ready-to-wear group SMCP fell by 1% while the former majority shareholders launched a procedure to “postpone” the holding of the general meeting of the textile group on January 14, which should cause them to lose control of its board of directors.
Nanobiotix flames
In terms of biotechs, Nanobiotix soared 22.6% after announcing the recruitment of a first patient in the clinical study aimed at approving its combined treatment of radiotherapy in patients with head and neck cancer, its flagship indication.
Oil prices experienced a new surge in the face of growing concerns about supply, after OPEC + refrained from accelerating the resumption of production. According to analysts at Commerzbank, citing a study by the Bloomberg agency, the organization of oil-exporting countries would produce even less than expected under the agreement in force. In addition, the unrest in Kazakhstan raises fears of a supply disruption on the part of this country (which pumps around 1.6 million barrels per day usually) These fears propelled the barrel of Brent at the end of the day to 82.35 dollars (+ 1.92%), highest since November. That of WTI was traded at the same time at 79.82 dollars (+ 2.53%).
On the foreign exchange market, the single currency hardly changed against the greenback (-0.09% to 1.1303 dollars). Bitcoin, on the other hand, was still losing weight (-1.8% to $ 42,867), notably suffering from expectations of faster-than-expected rate hikes.
Guillaume Bayre – © 2022 BFM Bourse