The initial rebound was very short-lived on the Paris Stock Exchange, where the Cac 40 is now anchored in the red. Blame it on inflation, once again, and in the euro zone this time. While it had positively surprised this morning in France (6.5% over the year, against 6.8% in July and 6.7% anticipated) and it came out in line with expectations in Germany (8.8%) , it’s a cold shower to read the figures across the region.
In preliminary data for August, consumer prices rose 9.1% on one in the euro zone, a new record and more than the 9% anticipated by the Bloomberg consensus and the 8.9% in July. Same observation excluding food and energy, inflation coming out at 4.3%, against 4.1% expected and 4% the previous month. It is, in particular, the first time that the prices of food, alcohol and tobacco have risen by more than 10% in one year over one month, to 10.6%.
75 basis points on September 8?
At midday, the Cac 40 lost 0.8%, to 6,160.08 points, in a trading volume of 820 million euros. The trend is also weighed down by the fall of more than 3% of TotalEnergies under the influence of a new fall in oil prices, to 94 dollars a barrel of Brent, -10 dollars in two days.
” These further increases in headline and underlying inflation in August and the likelihood that they will continue to rise will increase the pressure on the ECB to accelerate the pace of tightening », Analyzes Jack Allen-Reynolds, at Capital Economics. The European Central Bank makes its monetary policy decision on September 8. Worrying phenomenon, although business surveys show that supply chain problems have eased, core inflation for manufactured goods has accelerated from 4.5% to 5% “, continues Jack-Allen Reynolds. Inflation in services fell from 3.7% to 3.8%. ” Before the end of the year, we expect headline inflation to reach 10% “, he concludes.
bioMérieux considered too cautious
Another factor of decline in Europe, the lack of prospect of a rebound in New York, where the major indices could still lose some ground in the first exchanges according to the evolution of future contracts. However, at the beginning of the afternoon, we expect the ADP figures for private employment for the month of August, with the creation of 300,000 jobs expected. In the United States, the debates on inflation and rate hikes are also raging. Since Jerome Powell’s offensive speech, investors have been convinced that they will be eaten by the “75 basis points” sauce in September, as in June and as in July.
Little information from the business side. Only real publication of the day, bioMerieux lost just over 2%, despite an upward adjustment to the annual forecasts by the diagnostic tests group, whose sales should, in particular, only decline by 3% to 6% at the end of December, against 3% at 7% initially, while the current operating profit contribution will be between 580 and 625 million euros, against 542 million to 622 million euros previously. New forecasts considered cautious by the research office Invest Securities in view of the performance recorded in the first half.