The control room of Euronext, the company that manages the Paris Stock Exchange (AFP/Archives/ERIC PIERMONT)
The Paris Stock Exchange was trading in the red on Monday, cautious in the face of rising oil prices, particularly after the surprise offensive this weekend by the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas against Israel.
The flagship CAC 40 index fell by 0.60%, or 42.30 points to 7,017.50 points. On Friday, the CAC 40 finished up 0.88%, returning to the 7,000 point mark after three consecutive sessions below this threshold.
Investors are turning their attention to the Middle East where, since the start of the Hamas attack this weekend, more than 700 Israelis have been killed and 2,150 have been injured, the Israeli army announced in a new report published Monday morning.
In the Gaza Strip, under Hamas control since 2007, 413 Palestinians including 78 children and 41 women were killed and 2,300 injured, local authorities announced on Sunday.
“Faced with the risk of conflagration in the Middle East, it is first and foremost on the oil front that this conflict is likely to have an immediate effect,” stressed the analysts at Riches Flores.
However, “it is difficult to predict the magnitude of price movements in the event of geopolitical shocks. The fact that the United States and Iran are involved in the tumult suggests that tensions could worsen,” commented Ipek Ozkardeska, analyst at Swissquote Bank.
Around 10:25 a.m. GMT, the price of a barrel of North Sea Brent for delivery in December gained 2.53%, to 86.72 dollars, and a barrel of American WTI, due in November, gained 2.85% to 85 .15 dollars.
“For the moment, the market reaction has been quite contained,” noted Michael Hewson, analyst at CMC Markets.
In Israel, the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange’s main TA-35 index was stable (-0.01%), after falling 6.47% on Sunday, its worst session since March 2020, according to the agency. Bloomberg financial information.
In terms of currencies, the dollar, a safe haven, gained 0.59% against the euro, to 1.0527 dollars per euro. The shekel, the Israeli currency, fell 2.00% against the dollar, to 3.92 shekels per dollar.
The week will also be marked by the publication of the minutes of the last meeting of the American central bank (Fed) on Wednesday (6:00 p.m. GMT) and the publication on Thursday (12:30 p.m. GMT) of the consumer price index (CPI) in United States for September, an indicator closely monitored by the Fed as part of its monetary policy intended to reduce inflation to 2%.
Safe havens are popular
“Investors are clearly looking for safe haven values at the start of the week”, thus, “defense stocks and oil stocks are progressing”, noted Alexandre Baradez, head of market analysis at IG France.
Dassault Aviation gained 4.67% to 181.50 euros, Thales 4.57% to 133.85 euros and Safran advanced 0.66% to 145.74 euros. As for oil stocks, TotalEnergies gained 1.34% to 61.15 euros.
© 2023 AFP
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