After the fears of the day before concerning the visit of the Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi to Taiwan, the Paris Stock Exchange recovered, driven by a cocktail of three elements, the rise of Wall Street, the rebound in the course of the oil and company results generally well received. In closing, the Cac 40 gained 0.97%, to 6,472.06 points, in a trading volume a little more sustained than the previous days of 3.1 billion euros.
On Wall Street, the Dow Jones gained 1% and the Nasdaq Composite almost 2%. It’s a time of relief after the end of Nancy Pelosi’s trip to Taiwan (she is continuing her Asian “tour” in South Korea, before going to Japan on Saturday) even if it triggered, as one could imagine. expect it, Beijing’s wrath. China responded by announcing military exercises including missile launches until August 7 and urging airlines to avoid areas around Taiwan. Measures comparable to those which could have been decreed after Republican and Democratic American senators visited the island this year. She also announced the cessation of exports of natural sand to Taiwan, a key component in the manufacture of semiconductors, while an embargo on imports of many food products was decided.
Surprise rise in the services ISM
Across the Atlantic, the main statistic of the day, that of the ISM services for the month of July, was well received. The index recorded a surprise acceleration to 56.7 points, after 55.3 in June and compared to the 53.5 points expected by the consensus. The new orders component is notably improving strongly. Figures that go in the direction of the statements of James Bullard, this Wednesday, on CNBC. St. Louis Fed Chairman says the US is not in recession, leaving room for the Fed to raise rates further to bring inflation back toward the 2% target .
Second favorable element, oil. Delegates from OPEC+ (which includes cartel members and other oil-producing nations, including Russia) have agreed to a 100,000 barrel-per-day increase in production starting in September. This increase marks a marked slowdown compared to the increase of 648,000 barrels per day decided for the months of July and August. The reaction was immediate, the barrel of Brent from the North Sea going back above 101 dollars before losing this advance at the European close (98.72 dollars). TotalEnergiesheavyweight of the Cac 40, took the opportunity to gain up to 3% in the afternoon.
Axa brilliantly passes the half-yearly test
Finally, the results publications of the day were well received. Axa notably jumped by more than 5%, after having published operating earnings per share up 11% in the first half, the impact of the war in Ukraine being, as expected, relatively weak. The insurer is thus ahead of its confirmed objective of an average annual increase of 3 to 7% in this level of profit over three years (2021-2023).
Societe Generale gained 3.1%. The bank reported a lower-than-expected loss in the second quarter, as the dynamism of its activities in both retail banking and the markets offset the impact of the sale of its Russian subsidiary Rosbank.
Only Veolia Environment lost some ground, closing -2.8%.
Excluding the flagship index, bic climbed almost 5% after raising its annual revenue growth target to a range of 10% to 12% at constant exchange rates, whereas it had hitherto been aiming for the top of a increase from 7% to 9%.