The control room of Euronext, the company that manages the Paris Stock Exchange (AFP/Archives/ERIC PIERMONT)
The Paris Stock Exchange ended slightly down 0.13% on Friday, once again failing to maintain the gains from the start of the session at the end of a week marked by uncertainties over American inflation and geopolitical risk.
The star CAC 40 index lost 12.91 points to finish at 8,010.83 points, falling for the fifth time in six sessions. It continues a second negative weekly performance (-0.63%), which has never happened to it in 2024.
However, the Parisian rating had started on the right foot, rising to 8,118.02 points at the start of the session.
On the markets, signs of “risk aversion” among investors were however perceptible, notes Clémence de Rothiacob, manager at Richelieu Gestion.
The prices of discretionary consumer companies (automotive, luxury) have suffered while energy-related stocks are at the top of the indices, in reaction to the risk of escalation of the war in the Middle East, she points out.
Israeli forces carried out new deadly raids on Friday in the Gaza Strip devastated by six months of war, amid fears of a response from Iran against Israel accused of a strike against the Iranian consulate in Damascus.
Oil prices gained more than 1.5% at the Paris close.
The week was also marked by the inflation figures in the United States on Wednesday, which were higher than expected. “There is a real change in the market’s view compared to five months previously” regarding the pace of rate cuts by the American Central Bank, observes the manager.
“The scenario” of disinflation “is not changing but it is slowing down” for Ms. de Rothiacob.
On the other hand, the European Central Bank confirmed on Thursday that the reference market scenario, a first cut in key rates in June, remains current.
On the bond market, French government interest rates fell from 2.86% at Thursday’s close to 2.96%.
Next week will be notably marked by company results, notably LVMH, L’Oréal and EssilorLuxottica. This will also be the case for Edenred, which fell by 11.24% over the week, to 44.68 euros, notably after a negative opinion from Jefferies analysts. It is now penultimate in stock market performance in 2024 on the CAC 40 (-17.47%).
In the United States, bank results on Friday did not convince investors.
Raw material of the class
Companies linked to raw materials progressed significantly on Friday, such as TotalEnergies (+2.05% to 69.09 euros), ArcelorMittal (+0.70% to 25.72 euros), Eramet (+0.98% to 72, 10 euros) or Imerys (+2.32% to 30 euros).
ToatlEnergies is the company that made the most progress on the CAC 40 during the week (+3.43%).
Driven by geopolitical tensions, Thalès also gained 1.60% to 158.80 euros and Dassault Aviation 1.99% to 204.80 euros).
New sale for Société Générale
The banking group Société Générale announced on Friday that it had signed a contract for 745 million euros to sell its shares in Société Générale Maroc to the Moroccan holding company Saham. On Thursday, it had already offloaded 1.1 billion euros of its capital goods financing activities for businesses after concluding a memorandum of understanding with BPCE.
The title gained 2.10% to 25.76 euros, the best performance of the CAC 40 on Friday.
© 2024 AFP
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