(CercleFinance.com) – The Paris Stock Exchange should start slightly higher on Thursday at the start of the penultimate session of 2023, which should see the CAC 40 index post one of its best performances in ten years.
Around 8:15 a.m., the futures contract on the CAC 40 index – January delivery – advanced by almost 25 points to 7613 points, suggesting an opening close to the threshold of 7600 points.
The lack of activity characteristic of this period of truce for confectioners does not call into question the quality of the 2023 stock market vintage, since the CAC is heading towards an increase of around 17% this year.
The Parisian market has been taking a break for several days, in flat volumes, after having set a series of records 15 days ago in the wake of the change in strategy initiated by the Fed.
The CAC had managed to exceed the resistance of 7600 points before moving away from it over the last two weeks, in an anemic end-of-year market.
All major equity markets posted double-digit performances over the year as a whole, against a backdrop of good resilience in economic activity and hopes for future rate cuts.
On the Old Continent, the STOXX Europe 600 index has increased by almost 12% since January 1.
Unlike in the United States, where the surge of the ‘Magnificent Seven’ – these stocks like Apple or Microsoft linked to AI – boosted the trend, the upward movement of 2023 benefited almost all European sectors.
With a gain of 30% this year, the European technology sector nevertheless remains the big winner for the 2023 financial year, ahead of industry (+29%) and the agri-food sector (+26%).
On Wall Street, no catalyst or any annoyance has come to disrupt the upward inertia at work for two months now, which has allowed the American markets to achieve a 13th session of increases in a series of 14.
If the Nasdaq only signed a marginal gain of 0.2%, the Dow Jones ended with an increase of 0.3% sufficient to allow it to record a double absolute record ‘intraday’ and close at 37,656 points.
Up 0.1%, the S&P 500 ended with its best close ever, at 4,781 points.
This optimism, however, has been tempered by concerns over the apparent slowdown in growth, which has led many analysts in recent weeks to adopt a more cautious approach for 2024.
In a context marked by the absence of a large part of investors, the only macroeconomic news of the day will arrive at 2:30 p.m. with the publication, in the United States, of registrations for unemployment benefits.
Despite the good shape of the stock markets, yields on government bonds remain on a downward trend, continuing their trend since the end of October, fueled by optimism about the evolution of monetary policies.
The ten-year German Bund yield falls below the threshold of 1.90% while its American equivalent pushes the bar to 3.79%.
On the foreign exchange market, the euro is still gaining ground against the dollar and seems well on its way to testing its summer zenith of 1.1250 on July 14.
Note that gold – an inverse reflection of the greenback – increased by 0.2% to reach new historic highs, not far from 2098.2 dollars per ounce.
Oil prices confirm their recovery against a backdrop of renewed dollar weakness and geopolitical tension with the increase in attacks carried out by the Yemeni Houthi rebels, close to Iran, against ships in the Red Sea, which are disrupting global maritime trade.
A barrel of American light crude (West Texas Intermediate, WTI) rose 0.2% to $74.2, but is nevertheless heading towards annual losses of more than 7%.
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