Jerome Powell silent on rates, US inflation at the center of the debate

The consolidation movement initiated on Tuesday at the Paris Stock Exchange should give way to renewed optimism. Wall Street has indeed progressed yesterday, relieved by the lack of commentary from Jerome Powell on US monetary policy. In the absence of a major economic indicator on Wednesday, the market should remain focused on the inflation figures in the United States, to be published tomorrow.

In New York, the S&P 500 rose by 0.7%, thus returning to the threshold of 3,900 points abandoned on December 15, while the Nasdaq Composite chained a third consecutive session of increases. Jerome Powell overlooked the Fed’s interest rate plans in his remarks from the Bank of Sweden. And, in the absence of any indication of the Fed’s next monetary decision on February 1, investors are waiting for the inflation statistics on Thursday in search of the slightest sign of a slowdown in the rise in prices, which would strengthen the scenario of a reduction in the pace of rate hikes.

Fears that do not fit the Fed’s mandate

He conceded, however, that ” restoring price stability when inflation is high may require unpopular short-term action as we raise rates to slow the economy “. Fed Governor Michelle Bowman echoed her colleagues in signaling that further monetary tightening will be needed to bring inflation down.

The market’s fixation on a possible shift in Fed policy is all the more understandable as the World Bank lowered its growth forecast to 1.7% this year, from 3% in June. ” While these fears are valid, they are inconsistent with the Fed’s mandate, which is based on low unemployment and price stability. It meets one criterion but not the other, which means more rate hikes are inevitable given that inflation excluding food and energy is three times higher than the Fed’s target. “recalls Michael Hewson, chief market analyst at CMC Markets.

Thales not interested in Evidian

Airbusdelivered a gross total of 663 aircraft in 2022, before an adjustment related to sanctions against Russia, thus retaining its title as the world’s largest aircraft manufacturer, despite difficulties linked to a bottleneck in supply chains.

Thaleswill not bid for a stake in Evidian, a future separate entity from Atos, a spokeswoman for the defense group told Reuters following speculation of an interest from Thales in the digital services company.

vinci announced that it had won, in partnership with Siemens Energy, a contract for the construction of two offshore electrical energy conversion platforms in the North Sea, worth more than four billion euros.

Among analyst ratings, Goldman Sachs downgraded STMicroelectronics from “neutral” to “sell”. Deutsche Bank moves from ‘hold’ to ‘sell’ on Eurofins Scientific and Jefferies from “holding” to “underperforming”.