This is unprecedented this year: the Paris Stock Exchange aligns a fourth session of increase in a row, a first since November. the Bedroom 40 closed today with a gain of 0.72%, at 6,562.39 points, in a trading volume of only 2.5 billion euros, weakened by the absence of American investors, on leave for Memorial Day. The Paris Stock Exchange outperformed most other European markets, helped by the sharp rise in the luxury sector.
While China has announced new measures to support the economy and some of the health restrictions have been lifted in Beijing (resumption of public transport in particular, reopening of shopping centers with a gauge of 50%, etc.), Hermes, Kering and LVMH increased by 2.5 to 4%, marking the best performances of the Cac 40. Including L’Oreal (+2.1%), luxury weighs for almost a quarter of the weightings of the Parisian flagship index.
China, a big market for these companies, has been increasing aid to the economy in recent days. No longer a question for her, given the urgency of the situation, of controlling her debt or curbing real estate speculation. Prime Minister Li Keqiang acknowledged last week that his country’s economic difficulties were, because of health restrictions, particularly in Shanghai, “even more important than during the pandemic shock of 2020.”
Local government officials were urged to put in place new supports. This is how, this weekend, the Shanghai authorities, for example, announced that they were going to speed up approvals for real estate projects and were going, for this year, to increase the quota of car ownership by 40,000 per its inhabitants. Purchase taxes for certain passenger vehicles will be reduced and subsidies will be granted for the acquisition of electric cars.
Apart from the Cac 40, other luxury companies have also benefited from these announcements: the producer of high-end cognacs Remy Cointreau increased by 3%, Interparfums gained more than 5%, rising to the top step of SRD performance. Elsewhere in Europe, the Swiss Richemont, owner of the Cartier brand, climbed 3.5% on the Zurich Stock Exchange. pandorathe Danish costume jewelery manufacturer, and the German Hugo Boss were also surrounded today.
German inflation at 50-year high
TotalEnergies ends up slightly up 0.5% while Brent prices go back above 120 dollars a barrel for the first time in two months. Where, in the United States, the figures published at the end of last week gave the Stock Exchange hope that the peak of inflation had passed, the price indices for Germany and Spain unveiled today, in first estimate for the month of May, are on the contrary worrying. In Spain, the rise in consumer prices accelerated again, to 8.7% over one year, against 8.3% in April, after more than 9% in March. In Germany, the price index rose much more than expected to reach 8.7% year on year this month, the highest in almost 50 years.
Biggest drop in the Cac 40, Sanofi lost almost 2%. The title of the pharmaceutical laboratory was weighed down by the announcement of the suspension of the test, by the American health authorities (FDA) of the over-the-counter version of Cialis, a treatment against erectile dysfunction.