(Boursier.com) — And three! Third week of decline for the CAC40 which ends this very volatile weekly sequence with a loss of 0.82%, at 6,965 points this Friday evening. Despite this decline, the Parisian market has limited its losses since the start of the year (-3%) with regard to the performance of Wall Street. The Dow Jones and the S&P500 are in fact on the verge of completing their fourth consecutive week in the red, while the Nasdaq should suffer a fifth decline in a row and record the worst month of January in its history!
Investors remain very nervous about the uncertainty surrounding the Fed’s monetary tightening schedule. The US Federal Reserve confirmed on Wednesday that it would “soon” begin to raise its key rates, probably as early as March, and has shown itself determined to curb higher and longer-lasting inflation than expected. Fed Chairman Jerome Powell was quite firm, warning that inflation could surprise unpleasantly this year. Enough to fuel market fears of at least 4 key rate hikes this year, J.Powell not having ruled out raising rates at each meeting until an improvement is seen in prices. The Fed also confirmed that it would end its asset purchase program at the end of March, and paved the way for the reduction of its balance sheet, which swelled to almost 9 trillion dollars in due to bond purchases made during the pandemic to support the economy.
The escalation of geopolitical tensions in Ukraine also continues to worry operators. Enough to overshadow the publication of much higher economic growth than expected across the Atlantic in the 4th quarter of 2021. The GDP of the United States indeed jumped by 6.9% in the 4th quarter on an annual basis, against 5.5% expected. This end of the year with a bang allowed US growth to post 5.7% in 2021, its strongest increase since 1984.
A sign of this nervousness in the trading rooms, the volatility index VIX, also known as the “fear index”, is holding above 30 points, after peaking above 39 pts last Monday. The index has jumped 80% since early January and is moving above its historical average (around 20). During major stock market crises such as the beginning of 2020 (coronavirus) and 2008 (“subprimes”), the VIX soared to more than 50.
The euro/dollar parity is $1.115 this Friday evening, the lowest since June 2020, while bitcoin is trading around $37,000 on Coindesk. The barrel of Brent gained more than 3.5% this week and is trading above $91.
The weekly news was also marked by a new wave of results on Wall Street with the side of the good students Apple, IBM, Microsoft or American Express. Conversely, You’re here and Intel were shunned despite figures that exceeded expectations (outlook considered uncertain) and Boeing was heckled after further losses and heavy loads on its 787 program.
In France, LVMH launched the CAC40 quarterly season with a new high-quality publication. STMicro and JCDecaux also assured. The case Orpea has splashed the addiction care sector while Renault presented an ambitious electric roadmap, in collaboration with its partners Nissan and Mitsubishi. Finally, Orange formalized the forthcoming arrival of Christel Heydemann as Chief Executive Officer and Elior issued a warning about its results.
VALUES
* JCDecaux soared by 10%, boosted by an explosive end to the year. The outdoor advertising and street furniture specialist reported Thursday evening adjusted revenue of 955.8 million euros in the fourth quarter, up 37.5% (+34.7% organically). ). The consensus was positioned at 883.3 ME. Over the whole of the 2021 financial year, revenues increased by 18.7% to 2.74 billion euros.
* Renault gains nearly 4% after the presentation of its roadmap dedicated to electric vehicles and connected mobility. With its partners Nissan and Mitsubishi, the diamond manufacturer has unveiled a joint investment plan of 23 billion euros over the next five years in order to better compete with electric giants like Tesla. With 35 new 100% electric vehicles in 2030, the Alliance will offer “the widest range of electric vehicles, based on the 5 common EV platforms”. Precursors of the electric the previous decade, Renault and Nissan saw their leadership seriously shaken by the ambitions of Tesla and Volkswagen. In Europe, this sharing will take concrete form in particular with the arrival of a brand new Nissan electric vehicle which will replace the Micra and will be produced by Renault in the North of France, based on the future electric R5. Mitsubishi will also launch two Renault-based vehicles next year on the European market, including the new ASX SUV.
*Orange advance of almost 6%. As expected, the telecom operator formalized the arrival of Christel Heydemann as CEO. The Orange board of directors, on which Christel Heydemann has sat since 2017, met this morning to appoint the replacement for Stéphane Richard, sentenced on appeal last November in the arbitration case between Bernard Tapie and Crédit Lyonnais. The current Managing Director Europe Operations of Schneider Electric will take up her new position from April 4th.
* LVMH takes 3%. The first major company in the index to unveil its annual accounts, the luxury giant once again defied all predictions by posting historic results in 2021. Revenues reached 64.2 billion euros, up 44% compared to 2020 and 20% compared to 2019 (+36% organically compared to 2020 and +14% compared to 2019). Current operating profit amounted to 17.15 billion euros (+107% compared to 2020 and +49% compared to 2019), materializing a current operating margin of 26.7%, compared to 18.6% in 2020 and 21.4% in 2019. It reached 41.5% for the “Fashion and Leather Goods” division, which generated almost half of the company’s annual turnover. The annual net income, group share, for its part, increased by 68% to 12.04 billion euros, a record level.
* Houses of the world (+2.4%) after the announcement of annual sales exceeding its objective, at 1.31 billion euros, up 15.1% compared to the year 2020. The objectives of EBIT and 2021 free cash flow have been confirmed.
* TotalEnergies climbed 3% in the wake of crude prices. The energy giant also announced its withdrawal from Burma, indicating that the deterioration of the local situation since the coup no longer allowed it to make a sufficient positive contribution in this country.
Conversely, Orpea sinks 50%. Management’s multiple denials as well as the announcement of the creation of an independent assessment mission on the accusations brought against it did not weigh heavily in the face of the selling pressure on the markets. In a book-investigation (“Les Fossoyeurs”) released on Wednesday and excerpts from which had leaked into the daily ‘Le Monde’ on Monday, the journalist Victor Castanet notably accuses the group of negligence and restrictions imposed on the residents of its establishments. After having formally contested with virulence all the accusations which it considers to be “false, outrageous and prejudicial”, the management announced that it had taken note of all the elements of Mr. Castanet’s book and his serious allegations which it claims to be dealing with “dead earnest”. Consequently, the Board of Directors “decided to immediately appoint two recognized firms to entrust them with an independent assessment mission on all the allegations reported in this book”.
* McPhy fell 16%, weighed down by the announcement of a widening of its operating deficit in 2021. While the energy equipment specialist saw its turnover fall from 13.7 to 13.1 ME per year past, it indicates that its operating result will be around -25 ME. Figures lower than analysts’ expectations. The increase in the operating loss is notably linked to the structuring projects necessary for the transition to an industrial scale currently being deployed. This result also includes the financial impact of the potassium hydroxide leak on equipment installed in Grenzach-Wyhlen in Germany, for a total amount of nearly 5 ME, specifies the group.
* Korian stumbles 25%, indirect victim of the case Orpea. While the European leader in comprehensive dependency care has made the headlines in recent days, the entire sector has suffered on the stock market.
* Elior fall of 10%, weighed down by the announcement of the suspension of financial objectives for the current financial year. Despite a rebound in turnover in the first quarter, management explains its choice by the lack of visibility as to the impact of the restrictions put in place to stem the wave of Omicron. The collective catering group, which supplies businesses, schools, prisons, hospitals and retirement homes, has so far expected annual organic growth “of at least 18%”, and an EBITA margin. between 2.0% and 2.5%.
* ArcelorMittal fell 11.6%, victim of a note from the still very influential Goldman Sachs which downgraded the value to ‘neutral’ with a target reduced from 45 to 33 euros. The bank, which cites lingering concerns about the global growth spike, cut its EBITDA estimates for 1Q22, 2022 and 2023 by around 10%, 10% and 7%, respectively, to account for lower steel prices and high input costs.