The Paris Stock Exchange ended slightly up 0.09% on Friday, at the end of a week in which it failed to cross the record threshold of 8,000 points, after data a little less good than expected on inflation in the euro zone.
The CAC 40 gained 6.74 points, 7,934.17 points. On Thursday, he had improved his session record by a margin, with 7,977.68 points.
The flagship index of the Paris Stock Exchange remains a good distance from the symbolic threshold of 8,000 points, which it has never crossed and which it has been getting closer to for several sessions.
Over the week, the results are negative: the CAC 40 fell by 0.41%.
The session was dominated by the publication of a decline in inflation in the euro zone in February, which fell to 2.6% over one year, but this decline is a little less marked than anticipated by economists.
In the euro zone as in the United States, we have a drop in inflation, but we would have liked it to go faster, underlined Valrie Rizk, economist at Hugau Gestion.
These data are important less than a week before the meeting of the European Central Bank (ECB), which is not expected to lower its key rates, according to market consensus.
Central bankers are in a wait-and-see position, they need more (macro-economic) data to start talking about lowering rates, says Valrie Rizk.
According to this economist, investors, after having hoped at the start of the year for a rate cut from March, adjusted their expectations in February and are now counting on a first cut this summer. This vision converges with the projections of central bankers, she noted.
Saint-Gobain in the tough
Saint-Gobain, which suffered from the new construction crisis in Europe last year, announced declining results and turnover for 2023 after a record 2022.
The construction materials giant saw its net profit fall by 11% last year compared to 2022, falling to 2.67 billion euros on a turnover down 6.4% to 47.94 billion euros, the group indicated in a press release, nevertheless highlighting a record operating margin of 11%.
The stock fell 3.65% to 68.60 euros, the worst performance of the CAC 40 on Friday.
Vallourec continues its debt reduction
Vallourec, a leading metallurgist specializing in seamless tubes for the oil and gas industry, came out of the red in 2023 after its recovery plan and the closure of its German factories.
The group announced on Friday a net profit of 496 million euros for 2023 compared to a net loss of 366 million euros in 2022.
The action nevertheless lost 1.85% to 13.77 euros.
Teleperformance, worst performance of the week
The global call center giant Teleperformance fell 16.38% over the week, the worst weekly performance of the CAC 40.
On Wednesday, new fears about competition from artificial intelligence caused the stock, a former rising stock on the Parisian market during the pandemic, to fall sharply.
On Friday, Teleperformance shares fell further by 3.10%, to 111 euros.
Conversely, Bouygues is the company which grew the most (5.40%) over the week, after results which convinced investors.