(BFM Bourse) – The Paris Stock Exchange ended the week down nearly 0.5% weekly, back below 6,500 points. Worries about the risk of inflation and recession are holding back risk-taking on the markets.
In Paris, the CAC 40, which gained up to 0.73% at the opening, erased its gains over the morning, falling below 6,500 points to 6,485.30 points on a drop of 0.23%. The Paris Stock Exchange is backtracking on the 5 trading days (-0.47%) after posting last week its best weekly performance since that of March 14 (+3.67%). The London Stock Exchange was once again closed for the “platinum jubilee bank holiday” in honor of Queen Elizabeth II.
New tensions on interest rates are curbing appetite for risky assets such as equities, even more so since the publication of a monthly US employment report showing job creations above expectations. This good news is seen as additional concern for traders who expect the Federal Reserve to step up its rate hike program. Tesla CEO Elon Musk reportedly said he “has a very bad feeling” about the outlook for the economy, motivating his decision to cut its workforce by around 10%, or 10,000 positions.
The news among French listed companies is discreet, in the absence of major results. In the midcaps niche, the champagne house Laurent-Perrier (+3.15%) stands out, however, after reporting an “exceptional” 2021-2022 financial year, driven by the strength of the resumption of champagne shipments l year.
In the wake of its takeover of Hella, Faurecia kicked off the capital increase (which management said it was postponing last April due to market conditions) intended to refinance part of this acquisition, which makes the expanded group the world’s 7th largest automotive supplier. Faurecia (in the process of renaming itself Forvia) will raise 705 million euros, by offering its shareholders to subscribe at the preferential price of 15.50 euros. The action lost 6.82%.
Conversely, EDF wins 2.37% whereas, according to The echoesthe group intends to ask for a discount on the price planned for the acquisition of the “Arabelle” turbines from GE because of the risk of withdrawal from major customers who have signed contracts with the Russian Rosatom for the construction of nuclear power plants.
In terms of small caps, Cibox Interactive soars by 39.86% while the French specialist in consumer electronics, repositioned for several years in the “micro-mobility” niche, is going to build a bicycle factory and electric scooters on the industrial wasteland of Revin.
Oil prices are recovering, with a gain of 1.72% on the side of Brent to 119.44 dollars (+0.24% to 117.15 dollars for WTI). Little change on the currency side to report, the euro fell slightly to 1.0714 dollar.
Sabrina Sadgui
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