(BFM Bourse) – The Paris Stock Exchange is once again buckling under profit-taking. The CAC 40 lost nearly 1.60% at the close this Wednesday evening, investors having doubts after the euphoria of the end of the year. The poor shape of the luxury sector is also weighing on the trend in Paris.
We would have preferred a better start to the year for the Paris Stock Exchange. The CAC 40 posted a second consecutive session of decline (-1.58%), and not without difficulty preserved 7,400 points to finish at 7,411.86 points on Wednesday evening, i.e. a month-long low. To make matters worse, the flagship Parisian index achieved its worst close since September 21, 2023 (-1.59%).
It is therefore time to take profits, after the end of 2023 marked by optimism fueled by expectations of significant reductions in key rates in 2024 from the European Central Bank (ECB) and the American Federal Reserve (Fed).
Oil starts to rise again
On this subject, investors have some doubts and want to have more indications to confirm or not this scenario. Barometer of this skepticism, the bond market, which is experiencing tensions. The interest rate on the 10-year American bond briefly crossed the 4% mark this Wednesday, the highest since mid-December, before easing very slightly to 3.966%.
Several American statistics were also on the agenda for the day. American manufacturing activity recovered more than expected in December, to 47.4 points compared to 46.4 in November, while remaining below 50 points, a level marking the border between contraction and expansion of activity.
As for job offers in the United States, for the month of November, they fell more than expected, according to the Jolts survey to 8.79 million against 8.821 million anticipated by the consensus and after 8.852 million offers in october. Then, the markets will take note of the minutes of the last meeting of the American Federal Reserve.
Note the rebound in oil this Wednesday afternoon in reaction to information from Reuters reporting local demonstrations leading to a reduction in production at a major oil field in Libya. A barrel of Brent from the North Sea, for delivery in March, therefore rebounded by 2.9% to $78.07. A barrel of West Texas Intermediate (WTI), for delivery in February, soared 3% to $72.52.
Sanofi in good shape, but not luxury
Defensive stocks did well, such as Danone (+1.7%), Orange (+1.2%) or Sanofi which also gained 1.2%, supported by an increase in recommendation from Wolfe Research which passes to outperform with a price target of 105 euros.
Up sharply in early trading, Atos lost 5.8% after announcing this Wednesday morning that it was discussing a takeover by Airbus (-2.1%) of its BDS (big data and cybersecurity) activity.
The luxury sector is not in great shape either, with Kering losing 3% while Stifel, which is to be kept on file, reduced its target price from 430 to 420 euros. LVMH did not escape the decline (-3.8%), just like Hermès (-1.9%).
On the foreign exchange market, the euro lost 0.3% to 1.0908 dollars.
Sabrina Sadgui – ©2024 BFM Bourse