The Paris Stock Exchange is treading water this morning, hovering around 7,960 points, as defense stocks attempt a rebound. After dropping nearly 5% over the past two sessions, Thales and Safran are each clawing back about 1%. Conversely, Capgemini and Edenred are sliding by nearly 2%.
Investors are holding their breath ahead of the release of a series of key economic indicators from the United States, which will not only shed light on the health of growth across the Atlantic but also on the Federal Reserve's monetary policy trajectory.
Recently, several Federal Reserve officials have highlighted the need for a pause in the current cycle of monetary easing, echoing the increased caution expressed by the institution's chairman, Jerome Powell. This stance has contributed to recent declines in equity markets.
Due at 2:30 p.m., data on U.S. consumer spending and producer prices will reveal whether inflation remains stubbornly high in the country, which would increase the likelihood that the Fed will "sit out" the December meeting.
In this context, traders estimate there is over an 80% probability of another rate cut following the December 9-10 meeting, according to the FedWatch tool, up from around 50% last week.
The "Goldilocks" scenario—solid growth paired with contained inflation and lower rates—has lost some favor among analysts in recent notes, replaced by a less optimistic outlook marked by concerns over the stock valuations of tech giants and fears regarding the U.S. job market.
A return to more favorable growth prospects, combined with moderate inflation, could help revive risk appetite as the 2026 fiscal year approaches, prompting investors to strengthen their positions during market pullbacks ("buy the dips")—a logic that had somewhat vanished from markets in recent weeks.
"I continue to buy when prices dip, because I believe the market still has upside potential," said Michael Brown, market analyst at Pepperstone, this morning. "Seasonality also works in my favor: historically, when the S&P 500 has already gained at least 10% by the end of the third quarter, it never ends both November and December in decline," the strategist noted.
This morning, investors learned that Germany's GDP stagnated in the third quarter of 2025 compared to the previous quarter. The Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) thus confirmed its initial estimate published on October 30.
"Weak exports had a dampening effect on economic activity in the third quarter, while gross fixed capital formation increased slightly," emphasized Ruth Brand, president of Destatis.
Meanwhile, French consumer confidence slipped slightly in November, according to the synthetic indicator from Insee, which dropped one point to 89 and remains well below its long-term average (100 between January 1987 and December 2024).
In London, Brent crude is down 0.7%, at 62.9 USD. The euro is stable against the greenback, at 1.15 USD.
In the bond market, the 10-year OAT is at 3.44% compared to a 10-year Bund at 2.69%.
In French corporate news, Sanofi announced that the European Commission has approved Dupixent for the treatment of moderate to severe chronic spontaneous urticaria (CSU) in adults and adolescents aged 12 and over, making it the first targeted medicine for this disease in the EU in over a decade.
Wendel reported that it signed, on November 24, the agreement to acquire a controlling stake in Committed Advisors from its founding partners, following exclusive negotiations announced on October 24.
Eutelsat announced the launch of a capital increase with retention of preferential subscription rights, for a gross amount of approximately 670 million euros, as part of its capital raising of around 1.5 billion euros to strengthen its financial structure and fund its strategic plan.
TotalEnergies announced that its subsidiary TotalEnergies EP Nigeria has finalized the sale of its non-operated 12.5% stake in the OML118 production sharing contract. The asset has been acquired by Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company (10%) and Nigerian Agip Exploration (2.5%) for a total amount of 510 million USD.
Finally, AXA IM Alts, a BNP Paribas subsidiary since last July 1, announced it has acquired, on behalf of its clients, a 40% stake in FiberPass, one of Spain's leading shared fiber optic (FTTH) operators.
