After three consecutive sessions of decline, the Paris Stock Exchange rebounded in the wake of Wall Street on Thursday. The Cac 40 index nonetheless lost more than 2% over the week as the Federal Reserve prepares for a net tightening of its monetary policy. The low trading volumes (about 1 billion euros traded on Cac 40 stocks) also testifies to the caution of investors two days before the first round of the presidential election.
Mid-session, the Bedroom 40 rose by 1% to 6,524.38 points. Elsewhere in Europe, the Dax German gains 1.39% and the FTSE Eb Milanese 1.79%. June futures contracts on US indices rose by around 0.3%.
The IEA will again draw on its reserves
The narrowing of the gap in voting intentions between Emmanuel Macron and Marine Le Pen has weighed in recent days due to the pro-Putin and anti-European positions of the candidate of the National Rally. ” We expect Macron to be re-elected with a narrow lead over Le Pensays Lale Akoner, market strategist at BNY Mellon Investment Management. A victory for Macron would be welcomed by the markets, which would mark the reduction of political uncertainty and the renewal of a pro-business government. “, she adds.
On the raw materials front, the barrel of Brent from the North Sea is hovering just above 101 dollars while the member countries of the International Energy Agency (IEA) will draw a total of 120 million barrels of oil in their stocks over six months to cope with the surge in prices linked to the war in Ukraine. In addition, the countries of the European Union have decided to impose an embargo on Russian coal, thus hitting the Russian energy sector for the first time. Some member countries believe that it is necessary to go further by blocking imports of Russian oil in particular.
Alstom and Sodexo carried by analysts
Biggest increase in the Cac 40, Alstom increased by 4.8%. The title is one of Citi’s “top picks”. While the broker is cautious about the outlook for the European electrical equipment sector, it favors energy transition and automation. Citi is also “buy” on Rexel (+3.3%).
Sodexo advance of 5.8%, supported by a note from RBC, which went from “online performance” to “outperformance” on the title of the collective catering group. The analyst author of the note considers that the discount of the action compared to its competitors is exaggerated insofar as its business model should make it more resilient than the average in a more uncertain environment and potentially in the grip of stagflation.
Agricultural credit gains 0.7% having taken a 9.18% stake in the capital of Banco BPM, the third Italian bank resulting from the merger in 2017 of Banco Popolare and Banca Popolare di Milano. In Milan, Banco BPM jumped nearly 15%.