The Paris stock market opened the week with a modest 0.12% decline to 8,209 points, despite performances from Teleperformance (+3.8%), Stellantis (+3.7%) and Sanofi (+2.3%).

The Paris index thus remains in ambush, in the immediate vicinity of its recent record highs.

Risk appetite is rising again across all markets, with remarkable consistency, from equities to bonds, credit and commodities", notes Florian Ielpo, at Lombard Odier.

After last week's sharp rebound (+3%), the Paris index and the Euro-Stoxx50 will be put to the test this week with a slew of economic indicators, starting with the latest US inflation figures.

US equity markets - which have just posted three consecutive weeks of gains - are also within touching distance of their all-time highs.

While the speed and scale of these gains may give rise to fears of an imminent pullback, the market could well find fresh impetus if the CAC manages to sustainably climb above its major resistance level of 8250 points.

Up to now, the 8250-point threshold has represented an important management point for investors, synonymous with partial profit-taking, which has prevented them from rallying to the psychological 8500-point threshold.

The Paris market's ability to break above this key level will be tested over the next few days by a busy schedule of indicators, including retail sales and industrial production figures from across the Atlantic.

We recommend building portfolio positions according to all possible scenarios, but with a bias towards the prospect of rate cuts", stresses Angelo Kourkafas, strategist at Edward Jones.

Also on the week's agenda is a speech by Fed Chairman Jerome Powell at the annual conference of the Foreign Bankers Association in Amsterdam.
On the bond front, with 24 hours to go before Jerome Powell's speech, no one is taking the initiative: the US 10-year and 2-year yields have eased by 2pts (to 4.48% and 4.85%), while in Europe, Bunds and OATs have also eased -1.5pts, returning to their Thursday levels of 2.505% and 3.011% respectively.

The dollar is also little changed, shedding -0.2% to 1.0795/E (the '$-Index is down -0.15%).

In the news for French companies, Sanofi announces a €1.1 billion increase in its investment in major industrial projects in France, to create new bioproduction capacity at its sites in Vitry-sur-Seine (Val de Marne), Le Trait (Seine-Maritime) and Lyon Gerland (Rhône).

EDF announces the signature, with several major international banks, of green bank loans dedicated to the financing of its nuclear fleet in France, for around 5.8 billion euros, with maturities ranging from three to five years.

Air France-KLM announces the launch of a cash tender offer for two existing bond issues, as well as its intention to proceed with a new bond issue, with a view to extending the average maturity of its debt.

Airbus Helicopters and Babcock announce that they have been awarded a 12-year contract by the Direction de la Maintenance Aéronautique, effective this year, to support 48 EC145s operated by the French Ministry of the Interior.

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