(CercleFinance.com) – The Paris Stock Exchange is expected to rise on Friday at the opening while a new burst of economic indicators promises to liven up this last session of a week which is currently positive.
Around 8:15 a.m., the ‘futures’ contract on the CAC 40 index gained 31 points to 7775.5 points, suggesting the start of the session in positive territory and the reaching of new historic highs from the first exchanges.
This renewed optimism comes as the numerous statistics published this week have demonstrated the robustness of the American economy, but also – to a certain extent – the good resilience of activity in Europe.
Goldman Sachs yesterday raised its forecast for the pan-European STOXX Europe 600 index, which the American investment bank now sees reaching 510 points in 12 months, the equivalent of a gain of around 5% compared to its current levels.
In a strategy note, Goldman justifies its greater optimism by the prospect of an improvement in the European economy in the months to come.
The markets will be able to more precisely assess the evolution of the economic situation and the timetable for the next easing measures expected from central banks with the publication of a whole series of indicators in the coming hours.
Investors will be watching in particular, at 2:30 p.m., the producer price figures in the United States, a component of the PCE index, the Fed’s preferred measure of inflation.
Building permits and housing starts should remain penalized by the high level of rates, even if mortgage rates have fallen since their peak, with hopes of lower rates from the Fed.
On Wall Street, American stock markets – which are trading at levels close to their recent records – are heading for a 15th week of increases out of 16.
The Dow Jones index rose 0.9% to 38,773 points and was only 0.1% away from beating its closing record on Monday (38,798 points).
The Nasdaq Composite for its part advanced 0.3% to 15,906.2 points, a dynamic which should continue today thanks to the good results of Applied Materials, greeted by a surge of 10% in transactions outside the session.
On the Tokyo Stock Exchange, the Nikkei index gained 0.9% to establish new 34-year highs to come within a stone’s throw of its historic record which was reached in December 1989.
In China, the Hong Kong Hang Seng index rose 2.5% in the hope of new support measures from Beijing for several strategic sectors.
In the bond compartment, the yield on ten-year Treasuries is giving up a little ground, at 4.24%, after reaching almost three-month highs at the start of the week.
The euro is almost stable and stands at $1.0760, while oil prices are starting to rise again although the International Energy Agency (EIA) on Thursday revised downwards its forecasts on demand for 2024.
North Sea Brent is currently up 1.5% to over $82.6 per barrel while American light crude (WTI) is up 1.8% to around $78.
At this stage of the week, the CAC 40 index shows a weekly increase of more than 1.2%, bringing its gains since January 1 to 2.6%.
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