(Boursier.com) — THE TREND
After a weekend under pressure, the markets rose a little on Monday, while trading looks calm due to the closure of Wall Street for Martin Luther King Day in the United States… The CAC40 resumes 0, 5% at the end of the morning around 7,180 pts.
The declarations of several officials of the American Federal Reserve confirming their desire to raise interest rates as of March to curb inflation nevertheless remain under surveillance. Recall that Lael Brainard, in particular, cast a chill by declaring to the Senate that the institution had planned “several rate hikes during the year” and that it could take action “as soon as our purchases will be completed”, so potentially as early as the mid-March meeting…
China’s economy meanwhile grew faster than expected in the fourth quarter of 2021, but at its slowest pace in a year and a half, as the People’s Bank of China cut interest rates to cushion the slowdown in the world’s second largest economy. GDP thus rose by 4% year on year over the October-December period, compared to an increase of 4.9% in the previous quarter, shows data published Monday by the National Bureau of Statistics. Analysts expected average growth of 3.6%. The Chinese economy thus grew by 8.1% in 2021, a performance well above the government’s objective of “more than 6%”.
Crude prices, for their part, have chained 4 weeks of consecutive increase, the world supply of crude being restrained by problems in many producing countries and demand continuing to progress despite the wave of Omicron. Prices were also supported by fears of Russia invading Ukraine. At more than 83 dollars, the barrel of Brent is at its highest since October 2014.
RISING VALUES
* CGG and Vallourec rise 8% in the wake of the barrel.
* Luxury dominates the CAC40 charts with Hermes and Kering which take up more than 2%.
* Thales continues its march forward. The title of the specialist in electronic equipment and systems for the aerospace, transport, defense and security sectors advances by 1.6% to 81.9 euros. While the group will unveil its annual results on March 3, Citi has raised its earnings estimates and its target price from 104 to 108 euros. The bank (‘buy’) believes that Thales should continue to benefit from its status as a “defensive safe haven” as it expects the group to achieve strong cash flows in 2021 and 2022. It specifies that about two-thirds of this year’s profits will come from defense and security and only 15% from aerospace.
* Renault (+0.6% to 33.75 euros) reported a third consecutive year of decline in global volume sales in 2021, due to chip shortages and its difficulties in China and South Korea. The group marketed 2,696,401 cars and vans last year, down 4.5%, according to a press release.
* Remy Cointreau, which remained on three sessions of marked decline, rose 2.5% to 192 euros on Monday. The spirits group benefits from a rating from Bryan Garnier which has gone from ‘sell’ to ‘neutral’ on value with a target raised from 176 to 197 euros. The stock has been under pressure recently (-13% since January 1), partly due to sector rotation, but not company-specific. While the firm will unveil its quarterly results on January 25, Remy Cointreau’s premiumization strategy should bear fruit in the coming months, according to the broker.
FALLING VALUES
* EDF fails to lift his head. Still down 3% to 8.57 euros, the title of the electrician remains heckled after the double blow of bamboo on Friday. Analysts are logically many to review their copy on the file after these announcements. Especially since the specter of a major call to the market now hovers clearly over the group, which is 83% owned by the State. The latest is HSBC which downgraded the value to ‘keep’ while reducing its target from 15.1 to 10 euros.
* Saint Gobain is the only significant drop among the values of the CAC40 on a decline of 1.6% to 65.2 euros.
* OSE Immuno fell 2% to 9.88 euros on Monday, when the group announced the departure of Alexis Peyroles as Managing Director of the Company. Dominique Costantini, currently Chairman of the Board of Directors of OSE Immunotherapeutics and Chief Executive Officer from 2012 to 2018, has been appointed Interim Chief Executive Officer, effective immediately. The search for a new Managing Director has started with the help of a leading international recruitment firm. Alexis Peyroles resigned for health reasons, he will remain involved in the advances of OSE Immunotherapeutics.