(CercleFinance.com) – The Paris Stock Exchange ended the day with a moderate increase of 0.29%, to 8,153 points, helped by Saint-Gobain (+2.3%), Vivendi (+2.1%) and Société Générale (+1.9%).
Little movement on the bond side: OATs like Bunds are frozen at their Tuesday levels (2.9% and 2.4%), US T-Bonds are tending to the margin of +3Pts towards 4, 38%… which however corresponds to the worst mark observed since 11/28/2023.
Market participants did not react to the publication of the first consumer price figures in the euro zone for the month of March (estimate down slightly, towards 2.4% in March, after 2.6% in annual rate for the core inflation index).
On the other hand, it seems that operators are reassured by growth which slowed slightly in the American private sector in March: the composite PMI index of S&P Global which stands at 52.1 in final data, against 52.2 in ‘flash’ estimate and after 52.5 in February
S&P Global specifies that while manufacturing production increased at its fastest pace in almost two years, growth in services activity weakened with the PMI falling from 52.3 to 51.7 d. ‘one month to the next.
This is going ‘in the right direction’ in a way because central banks have recently made it clear that their future decisions would depend on economic indicators and that they still need to be reassured about the future of inflation in general and tensions salaries in particular.
For the European Central Bank (ECB), these data are therefore essential, since the Frankfurt institution seems reluctant to start its cycle of rate cuts before that of the Federal Reserve.
The most negative scenario for stocks would be if the long-awaited rate cuts do not take place, a scenario that could take shape if inflation were to start to rise again.
However, yesterday’s surge in oil prices proves that uncertainties regarding inflation can still be a source of volatility and resurface doubts about the timetable for rate cuts.
A new episode of tensions between Israel and Iran caused oil prices to rise yesterday following strikes carried out by the IDF on the Iranian consulate in Damascus (Syria).
North Sea Brent (+0.5%) reached a new high around $89.8 per barrel while American light crude (WTI) retraced its annual zenith from Tuesday around $85.9.
The market could also be tight while awaiting the speech by Jerome Powell, the chairman of the Federal Reserve, to Stanford academics.
Operators generally expect the Fed boss to reaffirm that the conditions for a rate cut are not yet met, given recent price disappointments, but that they could be within a few years. month.
In the meantime, the ounce of gold crossed the threshold of $2,300 per ounce for the first time before falling back to around $2,285 (+1.6%).
In French company news, Thales announces the completion of the acquisition of Cobham Aerospace Communications (AeroComms), a ‘leading provider of advanced, ultra-reliable and innovative connectivity and secure communications systems for the cockpit’.
TotalEnergies announced on Wednesday the launch of a new battery electricity storage project in Belgium, in addition to the project currently being carried out at its Antwerp refinery. This new project will have a power of 25 MW and a capacity of 75 MWh thanks to 40 ‘lithium-ion’ containers supplied by its subsidiary Saft.
Lacroix publishes net income group share (RNPG) down 64.1% to 4.3 million euros for last year, with a current EBITDA margin down 0.8 points to 5.5 %, drop entirely due to the difficulties of the subsidiary Lacroix Electronics North America.
FCA US, the North American subsidiary of Stellantis, indicates that its car sales fell by 10% year-on-year in the first quarter in the United States. Its delivery volumes thus totaled 332,540 over the first three months of the year, compared to 368,327 units over the same period of 2023.
Herige publishes for 2023 a net profit group share (RNPG) of 9.3 million euros compared to 21.9 million the previous year, as well as an EBITDA margin of 5.6%, down by 1. 4 point (-0.9 point to 7.8% over the future scope of the group).
Finally, Thales announces a partnership with TXT, Laval University and the Consortium for Research and Innovation in Aerospace in Quebec (CRIAQ) for the Autonomy of Air Mobility of the Future (AMAF) project.
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