(Boursier.com) — A turbulent weekend for the CAC40, which ended with a second consecutive weekly decline. Over five sessions, the Parisian index lost 3.41%, to 6,274 points this Friday evening. Highly anticipated, Jerome Powell’s speech at the Jackson Hole symposium did not hold any bad surprises, nor any good ones. The Fed Chairman indicated that the Federal Reserve would likely continue to raise interest rates and leave them high for some time to stamp out inflation, and he brushed off any notion that the Fed would backtrack anytime soon. “Restoring price stability is likely to require tight policy to continue for some time,” Powell said, adding that “historical data strongly caution against premature policy easing…We we have to keep going until the job is done”. The leader nevertheless clarified that next month’s rate hike “will depend on the totality of the incoming data and the evolution of the outlook”.
In Europe, with energy prices reaching new highs every day, the idea of a 75 basis point tightening by the ECB in September seems to be gaining momentum. While a further 50bp rate hike is expected by the market after a similar first rate hike in July, some ECB officials want to discuss a 75bp hike at the September meeting. “I won’t necessarily support 75 but there’s no reason not to discuss it,” a source close to the ECB, who asked not to be named, told Reuters on Friday. “If the Fed did it, there’s no reason why we shouldn’t at least put it on the table.” As you will have understood, it is still monetary policy that will dominate the debates this fall.
On the foreign exchange market, the single currency fell back below parity against the dollar this week, weighed down by fears of recessions in the euro zone. Despite a rebound on Friday on expectations of a more vigorous tightening of the ECB’s policy, the euro could still be heckled in the short term.
As for raw materials, the barrel of crude had a fairly turbulent week but is currently posting a small weekly gain (+ around 1.5%, above $91.5 for WTI). The warning issued by Saudi Arabia on the possibility of a reduction in production by OPEC+ in response to the drop in prices in recent weeks has boosted the price of black gold. Fears of falling demand against a background of economic slowdown, or even recession in Europe, nevertheless continue to hover over prices. An ounce of gold is trading around $1,740 and Bitcoin is moving close to $21,000 on Coindesk.
VALUES
* Plastivaloire jumped by more than 9% after the announcement of an 11.6% increase (+10.8% at constant exchange rate) in its revenues in the 3rd quarter of its 2021-2022 financial year, to 179.6 ME. This quarter was marked by the return to growth in the Automotive sector (parts and tools), up +9.1% to 142 ME. The group indicates that it has benefited from its positioning on buoyant programs in a context of gradual recovery in global automobile production, despite the shortages of electronic components which continue to cause occasional episodes of “stop & go” among manufacturers. The firm confirmed its objective of an annual turnover of around 680 ME, higher than the turnover achieved in the 2020-2021 financial year.
* Vallourec climbed nearly 7%. In addition to the rise in the price of black gold, the manufacturer of seamless tubes was boosted by a note from Barclays which raised its recommendation on the value to ‘overweight’, targeting 17 euros. The market is clearly positive on the file since, according to the ‘Bloomberg’ consensus, 8 analysts are on the ‘buy’, 1 on the ‘hold’ and none on the ‘sell’. The average 12-month target is set at 17.10 euros.
* bioMerieux gains 4.8%. The US Food and Drug Administration has granted Breakthrough Device designation to the Specific Reveal Rapid Antibiogram System. This designation is reserved for medical devices that offer significant advantages over existing authorized solutions. The Specific Reveal rapid antibiogram system was developed by Specific Diagnostics, an American company acquired by bioMérieux in May 2022.
* Ubisoft advance of 1.2%, boosted on Friday by information from the United States since rumors point to a takeover ofElectronic Arts by Amazon.com. According to GLHF sources, the internet giant will announce today that it has made a formal offer to acquire the publisher behind Apex Legends, FIFA, Madden…
* Sanofi nibbles 0.3%, supported by relatively good news on the legal front in the United States. An interim ruling by a South Florida district judge could force up to 70,000 plaintiffs in the Zantac case to withdraw from litigation in multi-district federal court, without enough time to seek representation legal action and file a lawsuit in another state court before the statute of limitations prevents them from pursuing their lawsuit, Citi claims. If this decision becomes final, it would result in a settlement for the main defendants, including GSK, Sanofi, Pfizer and possibly Haleon, which would be much closer to around $10 billion than the $50 billion currently ‘priced’. ‘ by the market, adds the bank.
Conversely, * Faurecia 12.9% drop and Valeo yields 6.9%. In a market again worried about the risk of recession in Europe against a backdrop of soaring energy prices, led by gas, cyclical stocks were abandoned.
* OVHcloud stumbles 12.4%. It must be said that the largest European cloud provider announced last night the departure of Yann Leca, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of the company. He will leave the company at the end of October, after the announcement of the financial results for the 2022 fiscal year. A recruitment process is underway to fill his position.
* Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield returns 8.3% completed the sale of the Westfield Santa Anita shopping center in Arcadia, California to an established commercial real estate investor who owns other retail assets in Southern California. Sale price of $537.5 million (at 100%, URW 49% share), investor-funded through a combination of equity and new debt, reflects a net initial yield of less than 6% and a discount 10.7% compared to the last unaffected valuation.
* Schneider-Electric fell 7.3% after the announcement of the launch of a possible offer for all of Aveva’s capital. Reacting quickly to information from ‘Bloomberg’, Schneider confirmed that he was considering a possible offer for the 41% stake in the British industrial software supplier that he does not yet hold. The firm has not yet formulated an offer and is not certain to do so. She has until September 21 to announce her intentions, according to British regulations. Several analysts have expressed doubts about the rationality of this possible operation.
* Veolia fell by 6.3%. Forced to sell several activities resulting from the takeover of Suez to satisfy European regulators, the French environmental services giant saw the British competition authority (Competition and Markets Authority) hand over a layer. Following an in-depth investigation into the merger, the CMA explains that it has identified “substantial competition problems”. According to her, Veolia must sell “substantial parts” of the merged business, namely the UK waste management services division of Suez, its UK industrial water operation and maintenance services business and the Veolia’s European mobile water services business. “These activities constitute almost all of the overlap between the competing operations of Veolia and Suez in the United Kingdom,” said the competition authority.