The Paris Stock Exchange ended sharply up 0.96% on Thursday, benefiting from many positive results among its ranks and a lull in interest rates.
The star CAC 40 index rose 68.53 points to 7,188.36 points, after three sessions of decline. Over the week as a whole, it remains down 0.63%.
The Parisian rating even spent most of the session above 7,200 points, a threshold that it ended up dropping after the opening with less enthusiasm from the American markets.
During the week, stock markets around the world calmed their bullish ardor of 2023 with “the speeches of central bankers, who repeated that the key rates should still increase enough” to fight against inflation and that we had to “wait” before seeing them fall, explains Jeanne Asseraf-Bitton, head of research and strategy at BFT IM.
On Thursday, after four sessions of increases, the interest rate for the French 10-year loan fell sharply again, to 2.75%, against 2.81% on Wednesday at the close.
The trend could be supported by the inflation figures in Germany: taking into account the harmonized price index, which serves as a reference for the European Central Bank, the rise in prices stood in January at 9, 2% while analysts expected a rise to 10%.
In France, the index of the basic monthly salary (SMB) in the private sector increased by 0.6% in the fourth quarter compared to the third and rose by 3.8% over one year, according to provisional data published Thursday by the Ministry of Labour. The increase is far from offsetting that of the cost of living, which increased by 6% between the end of December 2021 and the end of December 2022.
In addition, the numerous company publications of the day generally gave satisfaction to the markets. “Beyond the 2022 results, the prospects that companies see for the coming months are good,” explains Ms. Asseraf-Bitton.
Legrand as a scout
The French manufacturer of electrical equipment Legrand achieved the second best performance of the CAC 40 on Thursday, rising 4.06% to 85.12 euros. The company announced that it had close to one billion euros in net profit in 2022, up 10.5%, thanks to a fourth quarter whose dynamism surprised analysts.
Other industrial companies have pulled out of the game after their results: Vinci gained 1.44% to 105.82 euros. The results confirmed that it is “one of the favorite companies” in the sector for RBC analysts, in terms of return on investment.
ArcelorMittal rose a little less strongly, by 0.99% to 27.50 euros, after announcing an exceptional provision of one billion euros to cover its Ukrainian losses and being concerned about the slowdown in demand for steel , especially in Europe.
Crédit Agricole accelerates at the end of the year
The banking group achieved a “historic” fourth quarter and above expectations, which caused the action to jump 4.26% to 11.69 euros. In 2022, it published a net profit down 10.5% to 8.1 billion euros, penalized by the war in Ukraine.
Renault takes advantage of Nissan
The action of the car manufacturer Renault rose 2.41% to 41.84 euros, the day its Japanese partner Nissan confirmed its financial objectives and posted strong quarterly results despite having again lowered its annual sales target in volume.
Stellantis also took 3.62% to 15.67 euros, Michelin 0.77% to 30.09 euros.
Ipsen takes off
Ipsen, the third French laboratory, announced Friday a stable net profit in 2022 for a turnover in net growth, anticipating a new progression in 2023, but at a slower pace. The action jumped 7.09% to 105.00 euros.
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