(Boursier.com) — THE TREND
The CAC40 records above 8,200 points are now moving away with a sudden return towards 8,000 points this Friday. The Paris stock market index lost 1.4% at the end of the morning to 8,040 points. It has been around 3 months since a drop of this magnitude was observed.
The sanction came from Wall Street Thursday evening. The S&P 500 fell by 1.23% to 5,147 pts, the Dow Jones lost 1.35% to 38,596 pts and the Nasdaq -1.40% to 16,049 pts. The markets are having difficulty digesting the latest comments from the Fed, while awaiting Friday’s employment figures.
The rise in black gold prices continues against a backdrop of escalating tensions in the Middle East and constrained production. The global benchmark, Brent (contract for June delivery), climbs to $91 in London, the highest level since October, while West Texas Intermediate (May contract) remains at $86.5 on the Nymex . Israel has stepped up preparations for potential retaliation by Tehran following Monday’s strike on an Iranian diplomatic compound in Syria, stoking fears of a wider regional conflict. And this while Iran, third producer within OPEC, has promised revenge. Crude has jumped 18% this year due to geopolitical tensions in the Middle East and Ukraine, as well as OPEC+ supply curbs and stronger-than-expected demand.
Quoting…
RISING VALUES
* Akwel is granted 6% to 15.2 euros. In 2023, the automotive supplier achieved gross operating surplus (EBE) up 26.1% to €101.9 million and current operating income up 64% to €61 million. The current operating margin improved by almost 2 points compared to 2022. Akwel recorded in 2023 a consolidated turnover increasing by 7.8% to €1.07 billion, returning to a level of activity close to of 2019, the last financial year preceding the fall of the global automobile market following the health crisis. Given the expected stable global automotive production in 2024 in the European markets and North America, Akwel still anticipates activity at the same level for the current financial year as in 2023.
* Xilam jumped 12% to 4.38 euros, sought after its annual accounts. Despite a sharp drop in 2024 turnover forecast, the group maintains its forecast for current operating income close to balance.
* Only one CAC40 value in the green: Crossroads gained 0.6% to 15.6 euros.
FALLING VALUES
* Luxury weighs a little on the trend with LVMH And Hermes down almost 2%. Kering lost 1.2% to 364.8 euros. Morgan Stanley lowered the cursor on Kering from 435 to 405 euros (‘online weighting’).
* Second session of sharp decline for EssilorLuxottica which stumbles by 1.5% to 202.6 euros. Several analysts reviewed their copy on the file this morning like RBC Capital which raised its target from 195 to 200 euros while maintaining its ‘sector performance’ opinion. Morgan Stanley, for its part, revalued the file from 205 to 220 euros (‘overweight’) while Oddo BHF increased its objective from 204 to 225 euros with an opinion maintained at ‘outperform’.
* Pernod Ricard lost 1% to 143.1 euros. The news around the spirits group is marked by a note from Oddo BHF which downgraded the file to ‘neutral’ while cutting its target from 190 to 150 euros.
* Genfit fell 5.2% to 3.03 euros this Friday. Genfit expects that its cash and cash equivalents will be able to finance its operational and capital expenditures until, approximately, the fourth quarter of 2025. This estimate includes future milestone payments that the company still expects to receive in 2024, subject to the approval by the relevant regulatory authorities and the American and European commercial launches of elafibranor in the PBC by Ipsen, which could represent a total of approximately 75.2 million euros.