Down 1.55% at the start of the session in response to a more “hawkish” than expected Fed statement, the Paris Stock Exchange reduced its losses. A movement that corresponds to the resistance of futures contracts on American indices. Dip buyers appear to be back, in a tried and true scenario that has seen Wall Street erase declines of more than 4% in the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite during trading this week.
The banks stand out with a 2.2% gain in the associated Stoxx 600, the best sector performance in Europe, also driven by the 4.8% increase in Deutsche Bank. The establishment raised its forecast after a fourth quarter that beat expectations thanks to its investment banking activities. In Paris, BNP Paribas, Agricultural credit and Societe Generale earn between 1.7% and 2.5%.
Around noon, the Bedroom 40 lost 0.41% to 6,953.06 points in a business volume of 1.4 billion euros. The contracts future March on American indices are stable after a decline of 2.2% for the deadline on Nasdaq 100.
“The Fed could raise rates at every meeting”
The Federal Reserve left rates unchanged, as expected. But his post-committee statement states that he will be ” soon appropriate to raise interest rates and indications given by Jerome Powell suggest that he ” is almost acquired that a rise will occur in March, notes Michael Pearce, senior US economist at Capital Economics. Above all, the FOMC did not rule out the possibility of an acceleration of the monetary tightening cycle and announced that the process of reducing the size of the balance sheet would begin shortly after the first hike, which will follow the end of asset purchases.
More importantly, at his press conference, Jerome Powell dodged a question about the possibility of rate hikes at every FOMC meeting, which could therefore result in seven hikes, saying that the Fed will show up “ humble and agile ” and ” driven by economic data “.
Michael Hewson, chief market analyst at CMC Markets, notes that this conference has “ sent the message that the Fed could raise rates at every meeting, even consider a 50 basis point hike if necessary while Powell did not take the opportunity to rule out these possibilities. While that leaves all options open for the Fed, which makes perfect sense, nothing is ruled out, anything is possible. This is not the message that increasingly nervous markets wanted to hear. In essence, the Fed has told the markets that the time for support is over, our priority now is inflation. »
Elior suspends its forecasts, STMicro optimistic
On the macroeconomic level, four US indicators are on the agenda: the first estimate of GDP for the fourth quarter, weekly jobless claims, orders for durable goods in December and promises of home sales for the same month.
Biggest drop in the Cac 40, ArcelorMittal fell 2.8% as Goldman Sachs downgraded the steelmaker’s title from “buy” to “neutral” and reduced its price target from 45 to 32 euros.
More generally, the heavyweights of the rating behind the recent rebound are in the red. Kering loses 1.3%, Hermes 2.6% and L’Oreal 1.7%.
STMicroelectronics grew by 5.3%, boosted by an annual turnover forecast higher than expected. The semiconductor maker said it expects net sales of between $14.8 billion and $15.3 billion in 2022, compared to $14.3 billion forecast by analysts. The group plans to invest between 3.4 and 3.6 billion dollars this year to increase its capacities. A decision perceived by Citi as a sign of confidence in the prospects for growth.
Soitec rises 3.9%. The semiconductor equipment maker reported a 40% jump in sales in the third quarter of its staggered fiscal year and reaffirmed its ” determination to ensure successful implementation (of his) succession plan “.
Elior gives up 12.4%. The collective catering group has announced that it has suspended its objectives for the entire financial year which will end in September 2022, due to the lack of visibility linked to the impact of the health protocols put in place to fight against the Omicron variant. .
Renault appreciates by 3%. The Alliance between the French manufacturer, Nissan and Mitsubishi Motor has announced that it intends to invest 23 billion euros in electrification over the next five years to arrive at 35 new models of electric vehicles by 2030 via five common platforms.