(BFM Bourse) – Erasing the surge of pride (+2.5%) of the day before, the CAC 40 remained in negative territory all day Thursday. The tricolor index ended down 1.01%, a decline, however, less marked than during the session.
The Paris Stock Exchange was once again unable to hold on to its gains: the day after finally a substantial rebound (+2.5% on Wednesday, the biggest rise in the CAC since March 29), the index Parisian flagship fell back into the red as soon as it opened. Having even fallen by more than 2.7% in the session, occasionally dropping below 6,100 points, the CAC 40 nevertheless somewhat limited the damage by closing at 6,206.26 points, i.e. “only” -1.01% on the daytime.
A slight improvement at the end of the session to be put in front of a modest upward reversal of the American Nasdaq, which grabbed 0.5% at the time of the Paris close after having dropped 3.2% again on Wednesday evening, touching a low since November 2020, in fear of the consequences of the monetary tightening that the Fed intends to continue to practice to fight against inflation. Since its peak at the end of November, the star index of tech stocks has lost almost 30%…
STMicro holds the helm, dark Bénéteau
Among French stocks, with a gain close to 4% STMicroelectronics more than brilliantly withstood the new decline, driven by its objectives unveiled during its traditional Investor Day. The semiconductor group says it is aiming for a turnover of more than 20 billion dollars for 2025-2027, with a gross margin of around 50%. At the end of the day, other new technology companies (Worldline +1.1%, Capgemini +0.4%) also joined the bullish camp, encouraged by the recovery of the Nasdaq Composite. However, it was Alstom which posted the best performance of the day with a rebound of 4.9% following Wednesday’s incredible session which saw the stock practically drop from +10% to -10% (-5% at the close) .
Up more than 4% on Wednesday, Veolia Environnement returned more than 6%, following the confirmation of its outlook for 2022 after quarterly results driven by the integration of Suez. Renault slumped 2.3% as the Nikkei daily reported that the automaker was exploring ways to fund its electric business through a fundraiser. Bouygues suffered a slight drop (-1%). The conglomerate reported higher-than-expected quarterly activity but saw its results return to the red over the period, returning to a usual seasonality due to the construction industry, while the previous year the result for the corresponding quarter still benefited from the contribution of Alstom, of which Bouygues has now withdrawn from the capital.
On the front of average values, Chargeurs saw its share price jump by nearly 9% in a market that was nevertheless depressed. Investors welcome more dynamic activity than ever in the first quarter, while the firm will devote 8 million euros to share buybacks.
Bénéteau sank 12.6%, as commercial momentum and the good orientation of the order book were no match for concerns about tight supplies.
On the currency side, the day was marked by a new low for the euro, which broke not only the $1.05 threshold, which had been well defended for several sessions, but also the $1.04 threshold in the process (which had not arrived for five years). At the end of the day, the European currency was trading down 0.99% to 1.0410 dollars.
After marking time at the start of the day the day after a very sharp rise, energy prices started to rise again slightly: +0.86% to 108.43 dollars for Brent and +1.35% to 107.14 dollars for WTI.
Guillaume Bayre – ©2022 BFM Bourse