The Paris Stock Exchange ended stable (+0.02%) on the eve of the meeting of the European Central Bank (ECB), the weak growth prospects and the energy crisis still occupying the minds of investors.
The flagship CAC 40 index advanced by 1.31 points to 6,105.92 points in an average trading volume of 2.7 billion euros. The day before, it had timidly rebounded by 0.19%.
The Parisian coast spent most of the session in the red before making up for its losses at the end of the day.
The markets were supported by the fall in interest rates on the government debt market. This comes after three weeks of marked increases as investors have had to come to terms with the idea that central banks are determined to continue their monetary tightening to fight inflation.
During its meeting expected on Thursday, the ECB should ratify a rise in its key rates by 75 basis points, a movement extremely rare in terms of its strength to pull the euro zone out of an equally extreme rise in prices (9.1% on one year in August).
In terms of communication, the work has been done. The message is that it must fight against inflation, judge Florian Allain, grant actions at Mandarine Gestion. The fight against rising prices is favored by the officials of the European Institution, despite the signs of the economy running out of steam and the difficulties caused by the prices of gas and electricity.
After a rising summer, the Paris Stock Exchange returned to close to its lowest level for the year.
Few people want to invest now, Mr Allain believes, before the slowdown in activity translates into macro-economic figures and corporate accounts and the approach of a high-energy winter.
Engie leaps, TotalEnergies plunges
On the coast, energy tensions have caused the greatest variations within the CAC 40. Engie took 4.93% to 12.72 euros, while Brussels presented on Wednesday its ways to reduce the energy bills of Europeans, proposing to cap the revenues of nuclear and renewable electricity producers. But the ceiling would be higher than that initially envisaged, explains Mr. Allain.
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Conversely, TotalEnergies fell 3.70% to 49.80 euros, driven by the further fall in oil prices on Wednesday, Brent falling below 90 dollars for the first time since February.
Ubisoft in multiplayer mode with Tencent
The founders of the French video game champion Ubisoft, the Guillemot family, sealed a union on Tuesday with the Chinese group Tencent, which takes 49.9% of the capital of the family holding company, to keep control of the publisher behind the Rayman or Assassin’s Creed series.
On the stock market, the price deflated by 17.24% to 36 euros. Since the start of the year, investors have been speculating about a takeover of the group, like the major operations in the video game sector since the start of the year. Ubisoft’s share price has lost 16% since December 31.