The Paris Stock Exchange fell 0.35% in early trading on Wednesday, as investors limited positions ahead of the conclusion of the US Federal Reserve meeting and after new sanctions proposals against Russia.
The star CAC 40 index fell by 22.74 points to 6,453.44 points around 9:35 a.m. The day before, it had rebounded 0.79%.
Unless there is an about-face, the American central bank will increase its key rates to control vertiginous inflation, a delicate fight and far from won with the risk of plunging the United States into recession.
The decisions and the press conference of the president of the institution Jerome Powell are expected after the closing of the European stock exchanges.
Market players have been planning for several weeks for the announcement of an increase of half a percentage point, the first of this magnitude since May 2000.
It is possible that the Fed will become more aggressive in planning even steeper increases in the future, warns even Ipek Ozkardeskaya, an analyst at Swissquote bank.
The imminence of this tightening of the screw still had repercussions on the bond market. The French 10-year rate continued to tighten, 1.54% around 9:15 a.m., the highest since 2014. It was still only 0.2% at the start of the year.
In the afternoon, investors are also awaiting the ADP report on private job creation in the United States, a prelude to the official employment report scheduled for Friday.
Aside from the Fed’s monetary tightening, the overall outlook for investors is unattractive, with China’s lockdowns and war in Ukraine still weighing on global growth prospects.
Brussels is proposing to exclude three additional Russian banks – including Sberbank, the country’s biggest bank – from the Swift international financial system, in retaliation for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The European Commission has also proposed a gradual EU embargo on oil and oil products purchased from Russia.
Several new personalities could also soon be sanctioned, such as the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Kirill. The sanctions still have to be approved by member states.
Invest in real estate from €1,000. Our rankings of the best SCPIs
EDF remains limited by nuclear power
EDF announced on Wednesday a strong increase in its turnover in the first quarter thanks to the rise in electricity prices, while warning that this would not necessarily translate into the results while nuclear production is limited this year. The title rose by 0.21% to 9.61 euros.
Solvay benefits from rising prices
The Belgian chemical group published a net profit up 54% in the first quarter, to 369 million euros, driven by record sales and sharply rising prices. It took 4.71% 93.74 euros on the expanded Parisian index.