The Paris Bourse is testing new highs after registering its first close above 7,200 points the day before. The attraction for risky assets is not waning and investors remain confident for the time being in the ability of the global economy to withstand the wave of infections at Omicron. The market has also understood that it will have to deal with the pandemic, as well as with the prospect of a tightening of the monetary policy of the major central banks.
Note also the renewed interest in “value” at the expense of growth stocks. On the sector front, the Stoxx 600 in leisure travel posted the best performance with a gain of 3.2%. Air France-KLM thus rises by 5.7%. Banks follow (+ 1.8%) while Citigroup recommends overweighting European institutions this year. Societe Generale in particular rose 3.6%.
Shortly before noon, the Cac 40 rose 1.21% to 7,304.80 points after a new historic peak at 7,305.53 points, in a volume of business which is growing somewhat with 830 million euros on the values of the flagship index. The contracts futures March on US indices gained around 0.4%.
Rebound in manufacturing activity in China
On Wall Street, the Dow Jones and S&P 500 closed on new highs on Monday. Apple became the first U.S. company to hit the $ 3 trillion market capitalization mark. However, the stock finished below that threshold, while Tesla’s market capitalization strengthened by $ 144 billion on the back of a record fourth quarter deliveries.
In Asia, the Nikkei 225 ended with a gain of 1.8% on Tuesday, supported primarily by the fall in the yen against the dollar as the yield on the 10-year US bond broke the 1 mark, 6%. The Chinese CSI 300 lost 0.5% on profit taking despite the return to growth in manufacturing activity in the country. The index established by Caixin-Markit stood at 50.9 points in December, after 49.9 in November, its best level since June. A figure above 50 indicates an extension of the activity.
LVMH at its highest, Ipsen degraded
Operators anticipate increased volatility in an environment that remains marked by tensions on supply chains, risks associated with Omicron and inflation that appears to be persistent. The market will monitor tomorrow the “minutes” of the last monetary policy committee of the Fed, then Friday the first estimate of December inflation in the euro zone, as well as the employment report for the same month in the United States.
In the meantime, the main meeting of this Tuesday lies in the meeting of OPEC + which should rule on an increase in its production. The expanded cartel is expected to stick to an increase of 400,000 barrels per day in February. Also to be watched is the ISM manufacturing activity index in the United States in December. The oil services group CGG advance of 4.3% and TechnipFMC 0.7%.
The heavyweights of the rating continue to pull the market. LVMH thus takes 1.4% after having signed a new record.
Pernod Ricard goes up 2%. Deutsche Bank has raised its target price from 237 to 245 euros by maintaining its “buy” opinion.
Among other analyst ratings, Barclays raised its price target on ADP (+ 1.9%) from 91 to 98 euros, while JPMorgan has downgraded Ipsen (-1.1%) from “overweighting” to “neutral” and reducing its price target from 100 to 80 euros.