The control room of Euronext, the company that manages the Paris Stock Exchange (AFP / Eric PIERMONT)
The Paris Stock Exchange rose 0.58% on Wednesday, driven since the start of the week by a wave of optimism regarding the reduction this year in rates by the American Central Bank, which investors consider very likely.
The flagship CAC 40 index gained 46.80 points to 8,122.48 points around 9:50 a.m. On Tuesday, the Parisian rating increased by 0.99%, marking its third consecutive session of increase.
Due to two public holidays in France, trading volumes are expected to remain low on Wednesday and Thursday, or even Friday as well if market operators decide to bridge the gap. The French agenda is also almost devoid of macroeconomic indicators on Wednesday and Thursday.
But the Paris Stock Exchange, like other European markets, does not seem to want to take a break and is maintaining its momentum, boosted by Friday’s figures on American employment which were well received by the markets.
“The US Federal Reserve’s renewed interest rate hopes and the growing certainty that the European Central Bank could loosen the interest rate screw sooner than the Fed are attracting new stock buyers,” comments Jochen Stanzl, at CMC Markets.
The European Central Bank could, according to the general opinion of economists, lower its key rates in June given the decline in inflation and the weak economic dynamic in Europe.
But for the American Federal Reserve (Fed), the situation is more complex due to inflationary pressures that have not yet completely disappeared, and observers are struggling to know whether the Fed will actually lower its rates during the year or not.
On the bond market, the 10-year interest rate on the French bond, the benchmark maturity, remains close to its level from the day before at 2.91%.
Alstom in search of confidence capital
The railway manufacturer Alstom, in financial difficulty, more than doubled its net loss for the 2023/24 fiscal year, to 309 million euros compared to 132 million euros a year earlier, under the effect of a certain number of exceptional charges, according to its results published Wednesday.
This financial performance is much worse than what analysts predicted – those surveyed by Bloomberg expected a net profit of 123.9 million euros for the annual financial year. But the adjusted operating profit (supposed to reflect recurring operational performance) amounted to 997 million euros, up 17%, more than estimates.
The group has also announced a capital increase of nearly one billion euros and a hybrid bond issue (half accounted for in equity) of around 750 million in order to complete its debt reduction plan, which reassures investors. .
Very volatile since the opening, Alstom’s action opened down 6%, then skyrocketed to reach 17.30 euros (+10.5%) and was up 5. 75% at 16.56 euros around 9:50 a.m. GMT.
Euronext CAC40