(CercleFinance.com) – After having lost up to 1.2% at the start of the afternoon, the Paris Stock Exchange has erased most of its losses: its decline is now limited to 0.25%, around 7430 points, the index remaining notably penalized by Pernod Ricard (-3.4%) and URW (-2.2%).
The decline in the markets reflects profit taking and also illustrates investors’ doubts about the Fed’s monetary easing schedule.
On this subject, the highly scrutinized US employment report was published at 2:30 p.m. According to the Department of Labor, the American economy generated 216,000 non-agricultural jobs in December 2023, a number significantly higher than market expectations, like Jefferies which only expected 185,000, and which testifies of the resilience of the US economy.
Before this report, the indicators published during the week, namely weekly unemployment claims and the ADP survey on private employment, had already shown an easing of the American labor market.
Still in the USA, growth in service sector activity slowed in December, shows the monthly survey from the Institute for Supply Management (ISM) published this Friday. The ISM services index fell to 50.6 last month, compared to 52.7 in November, while economists expected it to be around 52 on average.
Furthermore, after a decrease of 3.4% in October 2023 (revised from an initial estimate which was -3.6%), orders to American industry increased by 2.6% in November, according to the Department of Commerce.
On the Old Continent, the annual inflation rate in the euro zone is estimated at 2.9% in December 2023, marking a clear acceleration after 2.4% in November, according to a rapid estimate published by Eurostat, the office statistics of the European Union.
Finally, in November 2023, industrial producer prices decreased by 0.3% in the euro area and by 0.2% in the EU, compared to October 2023, according to estimates from Eurostat, the office statistics of the European Union.
In the bond compartment, the yield on ten-year Treasuries eased slightly towards 3.94% (-2pts), while that of the German Bund of the same maturity stood at around 2.12%.
The euro gained 0.3% against the note towards, around $1.098/euro.
Oil prices continue to benefit from geopolitical tensions: a barrel of Brent gained almost 1% to nearly $78.5.
In French company news, the Stef group announces the acquisition, as of today, of the activities of Bakker Logistiek in the Netherlands.
LDC publishes cumulative turnover for the first nine months of its 2023-24 financial year, up 7.7% to 4.55 billion euros (-1.1% in volume). At constant scope and exchange rates, it increased by 4.8%, despite volumes down 1.4%.
While confirming its ‘hold’ recommendation on Pernod Ricard, Stifel lowers its price target by 8% to 170 euros, in the wake of a reduction of around 6% in its earnings forecasts for the French spirits group.
Finally, Pernod Ricard and Rémy Cointreau respectively lost nearly 3.4% and 10.5%, while Diageo lost 1% in London, after the Chinese Ministry of Commerce announced today the launch of an anti-dumping investigation into ‘spirits made from distilled wine imported from the EU and packaged in containers of less than 200 litres’.
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