The CAC40 is trading marginally in positive territory (+0.1%) in extremely thin volumes (€650 million over seven hours of trading), with many operators absent.
The index remains above 8,100 points (8,115), outperforming the E-Stoxx50 (+0.05%), the DAX40 (-0.05%), and U.S. indices, which appear headed for a second consecutive consolidation session (after Friday's -0.05%).
Red dominates on Wall Street, with the Dow Jones down -0.4%, the S&P500 -0.5%, and the Nasdaq losing -0.7%, slipping further in the wake of semiconductor stocks (-2%) and Tesla (-2.7%).

This lull between the year-end holidays naturally gives market professionals time to take stock of the year ending and ponder the outlook for the one ahead.

"Resilient macroeconomic conditions, earnings growth thanks to AI, and accommodative monetary policy generated double-digit returns in developed markets," Swiss Life Asset Managers summarized a few days ago.

SLAM more broadly highlighted "solid global equity gains in 2025 despite volatility," even though "trade tensions and geopolitical risks triggered intermittent corrections" during the year.

According to SLAM, "2026 should be the fourth consecutive year of solid returns." "Strong monetary and fiscal support, along with resilient GDP and earnings growth, underpin our 6% to 12% target for global equities," they stated.

As the new year approaches, the week promises to be all the more subdued with scant macroeconomic data releases (nothing on the agenda for Monday), at least until Friday, when PMI indices for the manufacturing sector in Europe and the United States are published.

But while stock indices enter their seventh week of stagnation, the mood is entirely different in precious metals, with historic volatility in silver: up +8.5% on Friday, then a further 4% surge between midnight and 1 a.m. in Asia, before a record plunge of -15% straight down from $84 to $71.8 in just half a day. Gold also lost -4% to $4,330, a swing not seen this year.
On the bond market, there is improvement in the Eurozone, with Bunds falling -3.5 basis points to 2.832%, French OATs down -3.7 points at 3.531%, and Italian BTPs -4.3 points at 3.471%.
The move is more subdued across the Atlantic, with T-Bonds easing by -0.7 point on the 10-year to 4.124%, and the 2-year shedding -1.3 points to 3.47%.
On the FOREX, it's dead calm, with the "$-Index" frozen at 98.00 (the Euro inching up 0.05% to 1.1782).

In corporate news, Alstom has signed a contract to supply 47 DMU passenger trains to Mexico, including 33 long-distance and 14 suburban trains, in a deal valued at around €920 million.

Atos Group has entered into a binding agreement to sell its South American operations to Semantix, involving approximately 2,800 professionals in Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Uruguay, and Peru.

Thales has secured a major contract with Defence Equipment and Support (DE&S) for the design, development, and delivery of the next generation of portable autonomous command centers.

This initial £10 million contract marks the first phase of a program that could reach up to £100 million, aimed at providing next-generation mine countermeasure capabilities to the Royal Navy.

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