Stable at the opening, the Cac 40 gave up some ground mid-session, weighed down by a new disappointment for one of its heavyweights, Sanofi. The title of the pharmaceutical laboratory falls by 5%, after the announcement of the cessation of the development of amcenestrant, its adjuvant treatment in breast cancer, the ongoing trials having not reached the objectives set according to a preliminary analysis Datas. The stock had already plunged last week due to fears of the financial consequences of the upcoming lawsuits over Zantac, which was withdrawn from US markets in 2019. Sanofi has lost nearly 18% since the start of the year.
In the middle of the day, the flagship index lost 0.41%, to 6,565.78 points, in a low trading volume of around 600 million euros.
The trend is also affected by the prospect of lower first trade in New York, after the Dow Jones gained 2.5% in five days and more than 9% in one month. A lot of caution before the publication, in the afternoon, of retail sales for the month of July and especially the report of the Federal Reserve at 8 p.m. The meeting ended with a further 75 basis point hike in key rates. For the moment, the CME tool based on futures contracts on Fed-funds anticipates, at 57.5%, a tightening of 0.5 basis point in rates in September (42.5% for an increase of 0.75 point).
Minutes more “offensive” than expected?
An important meeting, in the short term, for the stock markets, which are currently experiencing a nice summer rally, even if the next decision of the FOMC will depend above all on the next inflation figures for the month of August and on the comments which will emerge from the Jackson Hole symposium at the end of the month, the annual American meeting of the great central bankers of the planet.
Be careful, as Ipek Ozkardeskaya of Swissquote said this morning: ” the minutes will certainly seem more ‘offensives’ than expected as Fed rate expectations have likely softened too much after last week’s US consumer price report surprised with inflation 8.5% weaker than expected . This level of 8.5% is still very high; that’s more than four times the Fed’s 2% policy target. »
UK inflation at highest since 1982
” Real yields are expected to rise further in the fall, which could once again put pressure on growth stocksbelieves Gabriela Santos, Global Strategist at JP Morgan Asset Management, despite the recent macroeconomic data releases, which drove the markets higher, it is too early to have any conviction on the evolution of inflation in the fall or next year, and we do not know how the Fed will react to these figures. »
Today’s statistics in Europe are not reassuring. In the United Kingdom, consumer prices soared 10.1% over one year in July, their highest since 1982 and beyond the 9.8% expected by the consensus. The average annual energy bill for a UK home is nearly £2,000, almost twice as much as a year ago. It could exceed 4,000 pounds by January according to the research firm Cornwall Insight, relays the agency Reuters. The final inflation figures for July in the euro zone will be published tomorrow.