THE TREND
(Boursier.com) — The CAC40 fell further into the red this Friday, finishing at 7,479 points, down 0.68%. This is the fourth negative session in a row, with even a session low of 7,456 points. This return below 7,500 points marks a return to the lowest levels since the announcement of the dissolution of the National Assembly, i.e. more than 500 points lost while we were still above 8,000 points before this event. which has fueled investor mistrust in French assets.
This Friday session was the last before the first round of legislative elections this Sunday and investors’ distrust is materializing in a new surge in the yield of 10-year OATs to around 3.30%, very close to the peak of 3.32% reached on June 11, two days after the surprise dissolution of the National Assembly.
Wall Street was nevertheless in the green this Friday at Paris closing time, the American market being stimulated by the publication of a ‘core PCE’ price index for May which came out as expected up 0, 1% month over month. Over one year, the “core PCE” index rose 2.7%, slightly more than expected. PCE inflation is the indicator of price dynamics favored by the American Federal Reserve to define its monetary policy.
RISING VALUES
* TotalEnergies recovered 0.5% to 62.3 euros, taking advantage of its fairly defensive positioning despite the consolidation of the barrel of Brent at 85 dollars.
* Viridian gained 2% to 0.48 euros. The consolidation of Viridien shares (ex-CGG) at the rate of 1 new share for 100 old shares will begin next Monday (July 1, 2024). The effective date of this consolidation is set for July 31, 2024. Shareholders holding a total number of old shares forming a multiple of 100 will not have to take any action. Shareholders who do not have a number of old shares corresponding to a whole number of new shares (i.e. a multiple of 100 old shares) will have to make their personal decision to purchase or sell the old shares forming fractional shares, in order to obtain a multiple of 100 until July 30, 2024 inclusive.
VALUES DOWN
* Strongest drop in the CAC40, L’Oreal is down another 3% to €410, hurt by comments from its CEO. At a JP Morgan event in Paris on Thursday, Nicolas Hieronimus told investors he now expects the global beauty market to grow between 4.5% and 5% this year, compared with a previous forecast of 5%. The executive blamed the slight revision on stagnation in the Chinese market. The country has long been a growth engine for L’Oréal, with consumers drawn to its high-end cosmetics offerings. L’Oréal will publish its half-year results on July 30.
* Atos loses 15% to 0.99 euros. A few hours after the end of discussions between the company in serious financial difficulties and the consortium led by Onepoint and Butler Industries was made official, the group announced the resignation from the Board of Directors, with immediate effect, of David Layani and Helen Lee Bouygues. The largest shareholder of Atos has also announced its intention to withdraw from the capital of the digital services company. Onepoint previously held 11.4% of Atos. On Wednesday, Onepoint indicated that “the conditions were not met to conclude an agreement paving the way for a lasting solution for financial restructuring and implementation of the project”… Atos is now holding discussions with its creditors to restructure its debt, which he still intends to finalize in July. The group nevertheless remains in the sights of Daniel Kretinsky who has reiterated his interest in participating in its financial restructuring via EPEI. In any case, the implementation of the envisaged financial restructuring plan will result in massive dilution for current Atos shareholders, who are expected to hold less than 0.1% of the share capital.
* Air France KLM fell 4% to 8.23 euros, weighed down by a note from Barclays which lowered its recommendation to ‘line weighting’, citing political instability in France. The price target is cut from 15 to 9.50 euros.
* Airbus lost 1.8% to 128.3 euros. Morgan Stanley reduced the slider from 190 to 160 euros (‘overweight’).
* EuroAPI lost another 8% to 2.55 euros. Deutsche Bank lowered its price target from 3 to 2.5 euros (‘hold’).