The Paris Bourse is trying to tackle new highs by flirting with the psychological threshold of 7,200 points, while contracts futures on US indices gained a few points after a mixed close the day before. The acceleration of Omicron variant contaminations remains at the center of attention, and in particular its impact on the economic recovery. Trading volumes remain low with barely € 200m traded on the Cac 40 as the end of the year approaches, but the reopening of the London Stock Exchange after a four-day weekend should give some back relief to trade.
At 10:45 am, the Cac 40 clusters 0.07% to 7,185.93 points after a new historic peak in session at 7,201.65.
In New York, the S&P 500 just missed a 70e record closing this year after having hit a new peak in session, thus interrupting a series of four consecutive sessions of increase. The Nasdaq Composite also folded, while the Dow Jones nabbed a few points. The American market is wondering about the consequences of disruptions in air transport due to the Omicron variant, but for now, the new wave promises to be less dangerous than feared and the probability of confinements at the global level is considered low.
Towards profit taking after the “Santa Rally”?
Asian markets were generally down on Wednesday, with the Japanese Nikkei 225 ending 0.6% lower, while the Hong Kong Stock Exchange’s Hang Seng and Chinese CSI 300 lost more than 1%. Volatility is a classic phenomenon at this slack period of the year, especially as the Beijing authorities are stepping up their monitoring of Chinese companies’ listings on foreign stock exchanges.
Investors are tempted to take profits after a 17% gain in global financial centers. The pandemic, the Fed’s tightening monetary policy, and the outlook for the Chinese economy amid the real estate crisis are among the main risks for 2022, although fears about the Omicron variant appear to be easing amid a less dangerous compared to previous strains, according to recent studies.
American acquisition for Teleperformance
On the macroeconomic front, the market will monitor US foreign trade figures and November US home sales promises, not to mention weekly oil inventories. These fell 3.1 million barrels last week, according to data from the American Petroleum Institute (API) trade association.
Biggest increase in the Cac 40, Teleperformance increased by 2.6% and set a record. The group announced the acquisition of Senture, specializing in the outsourced management of business processes to administrations in the United States, for an enterprise value of 400 million dollars (353.5 million euros). The operation will be entirely financed by bank debt.
Bouygues and Vivendi follow with gains of 1.1% and 0.8% respectively.