Records are made to be broken! Any athlete will tell you. the Cac 40 took seed. After having started this 2022 vintage with fanfare, crossing the 7,200 points mark for the first time in its history, the Parisian index has given itself the luxury of climbing an additional step, that of 7,300 points. He closed Tuesday’s session with a gain of 1.39%, at 7,317.41 points.
Conjunction of factors
Weak yesterday due to the absence of many operators, especially the British, the business volume grew to 3.8 billion euros. Across the Atlantic, the indices also continue to climb to the top, investors not taking offense to the sharper-than-expected decline in the ISM manufacturing index to 58.7 points in December, against 60 anticipated by the market . These chain exploits can be explained by a conjunction of factors.
First among them: the rebound in manufacturing activity in China in December. The PMI index calculated by Caixin for Markit stood at its highest since June at 50.9, above the 50 mark, which acts as the border between the contraction zone and the expansion phase of the activity. Another factor: the lower severity of the Omicron variant is confirmed. ” We have more and more studies which suggest that Omicron infects the upper part of the respiratory tract, unlike other strains, which could cause severe pneumonia. “, Explained an official of the World Health Organization to the press, stressing that it could be a” good news. Several recent studies have in fact concluded that Omicron would be up to half as virulent as Delta, the most “dangerous” strain of the coronavirus so far. This led experts to consider Omicron as a means of “natural vaccination”. On the stock market, companies that are developing vaccines as a primary vaccination, or as a booster, have seen red, like Valneva, whose stock fell 23.7%. Third element, synthesis of the first two: optimism is in order for the results season of the fourth quarter, which will soon begin in Europe and the United States. ” We continue to see a rise in profits, and we believe that the consensus projections for 2022 will again prove to be too low JPMorgan analysts write in a note, adding that there is still upside potential for equities, despite a solid run so far.
Air France-KLM up sharply
On the sectoral front, tourism-transport, which has borne the brunt of the pandemic for nearly two years, is soaring. The associated Stoxx 600 index rose 3.3% as British airlines caught up as London was closed on Monday. In Paris, Air France-KLM climbed 8.13%, taking the lead in the SRD. Banks were also sought after as Citigroup recommends overweighting European institutions this year. BNP Paribas, which is one of the broker’s favorites, gained 3.35% and Societe Generale 4.83%.
Among analysts’ notes, Barclays raised its price target on ADP (+ 1.99%) from 91 to 98 euros, JPMorgan downgraded its opinion on Ipsen (-0.46%) from “overweight” to “neutral” and reduced its target price from 100 to 80 euros and Deutsche Bank sees higher – 245 euros, against 237 euros previously – on the title Pernod Ricard (+ 2.57%), which he recommends for purchase.
Finally, TotalEnergies, CGG and TechnipFMC gained between 0.84% and 3.75%. Gathered on Tuesday, the twenty-three OPEC + countries decided to open their valves again slightly in February, while demand for oil was little affected by Omicron. The total level of production is adjusted by an additional 400,000 barrels per day for the month of February.