The Paris stock market ended the session with a loss of 0.26%, at 8167 points, penalized by declines in Teleperformance (-2.8%), Kering (-2.7%) and Legrand (-2.3%), in what is known as the "three witches" session.

The Paris index has thus lost almost 0.6% over the past week, but has maintained a gain of over 8% since the start of the year.

The underperformance of the Paris stock market (which has stalled below the major resistance level of 8250 points) contrasts this week - but also this month - with the surge in US indices.

Profit-taking has been on the increase since yesterday, as a week marked by relief over US inflation draws to a close.

After May's sharp rise, investors are all the more tempted to play it safe, as next week will be marked by Nvidia's quarterly results.

Analysts are expecting better-than-expected performances from the processor manufacturer and an increase in its annual targets, as is the Californian group's wont.

Good news would undeniably confirm the positive direction of technology stocks, particularly those focused on artificial intelligence.

One of the most striking effects of this week's worse-than-expected inflation figures was the fall in US Treasury yields on Wednesday, in anticipation of increasingly likely monetary easing in the US.

But the trend is reversing in Europe this Friday: the 10-year Treasuries yield is back up slightly above 4.40%, after falling yesterday to 4.32%, the lowest in over a month, our OATs are up +6pts to 3.005%, Bunds are no better off with +6.2pts to 2.5060 and Italian BTPs are also up +6pts to 3.8060%.

The final eurozone inflation figures for April, published at 11:00 a.m., clearly disappointed. The zone's annual inflation rate held steady at 2.4% in April, unchanged on March and also observed for the EU as a whole (at 2.6%), according to Eurostat, which thus confirmed its flash estimate.

Still on the statistics front, investors received confirmation that, in the first quarter of 2024, the number of unemployed in France (excluding Mayotte) as defined by the International Labour Office (ILO) rose very slightly, by 6,000 on the previous quarter, to 2.3 million people, according to Insee.

As for US indicators, the Conference Board's index of leading indicators, expected to fall by 0.3% in April, fell more sharply than expected, by -0.6% to 101.8, according to the Conference Board, which sees this as a sign of a slowdown in the economy (the index had already fallen by 0.3% in March, and analysts were expecting a more limited decline of around 0.3%).

The ConfBoard explains the deterioration of the index by the worsening of consumer sentiment, the weakness of business orders and the fall in building permits, but also by the stock market correction in April.

One of Friday's highlights was silver's confirmed breakout above $29.3 (+3% to $30.50, a ten-year record) and gold's return above $2,400 (to $2,410), despite the deterioration in interest rates and the dollar's strengthening towards 1.0850/E (+0.15%).

In French company news, Eiffage and Entech announce an agreement to create a joint venture dedicated to the design and integration of storage systems, the construction of the substation for connection to the high-voltage grid, control tools and battery security.

Vinci announces that traffic on its motorway concessions fell by 1.5% in April 2024 year-on-year, a 2.8% drop for light vehicles having been partly offset by a 6.7% increase for heavy goods vehicles.

Clariane has announced that it will carry out capital increases for a total maximum amount of around 328 million euros, welcoming, alongside Crédit Agricole Assurances, Groupe HLD Europe as a new reference shareholder.

Finally, Stellantis today announced the appointments, effective June 1, of Christine Feuell as CEO of the Ram brand and Matt McAlear as CEO of the Dodge brand.



Copyright (c) 2024 CercleFinance.com. All rights reserved.