The Paris Bourse gained more than 1% towards 7,450 points, a performance that no-one anticipated in the run-up to the opening.
And even with +1%, the CAC pales in comparison with the DAX (+1.6%) and the Euro-Stoxx50 (+2%), which were literally snatched up by a sudden rush on 2 European 'tech' champions, Germany's SAP and the Netherlands' ASML.
Once again, this was a rather unpredictable move, given that the SOXX has been soaring on Wall Street for the past 3 weeks (already +10% and +23% on Nvidia, which is up +3%).
ASML, the Euro Stoxx50's real powerhouse, leapt +7% on the announcement of a tripling of orders (surpassing the wildest expectations) and enabled the pan-European index to retrace in a few hours its 2023 zenith of 4,550 of December 15: at 4,554, the index is heading straight for an all-time closing record.

Wall Street set one record after another: and of 4 for the S&P500 (+0.5%) at 4,888 and of 5 for the Nasdaq (+0.5%) at 4,860.888 and 5 for the Nasdaq-100 (+0.9% to 17,565).
The new all-time highs are linked, as they have been every day since January 1, to the surge in semiconductor prices (Nvidia +25% since January 1) and Netflix's good results (+12.5% with no less than 13.2 million subscribers recruited in the fourth quarter, its biggest score since the pandemic).

Optimism is sustained by the strength of the US private sector: according to S&P Global, growth in its activity accelerated in January, with the composite PMI coming in at 52.3 in flash estimates, a seven-month high, after 50.9 for the previous month.
"Expansion was supported by service providers, while manufacturers continued to observe a fall in production against a backdrop of intensifying supply problems", says S&P Global.

'While it's true that sellers are fretting over valuations in the technology sector, we think estimates for 2024 and 2025 will be revised upwards with the wave of AI investment about to hit the market', warns Dan Ives, analyst at Wedbush Securities.
That's 3 full months in which 100% of Wall Street's performance has been based on a dozen stocks, 3 of which have accounted for 80% of performance since January 1: an ultra-concentration unseen in 140 years.

Tesla and IBM's performances are expected after the market closes this evening, before Intel's tomorrow evening.

The earnings season is currently in full swing, and according to the latest FactSet data, 62% of S&P 500 companies have exceeded expectations, compared with a ten-year average of 74%.
The morning is punctuated by the publication of the European 'flash' PMI indices.

There were also figures from Europe: the HCOB composite PMI flash index of overall activity in the Eurozone came in at 47.9 in January, highlighting an eighth consecutive month of decline in the region's private business activity.

The index recovered from December 2023 (47.6) and signals the smallest decline in overall activity since July.

In France, the HCOB composite PMI index fell from 44.8 in December to 44.2 in January ('flash' estimate), posting a four-month low and underlining the sharp contraction in overall activity in the country.

On the bond front, the yield on 10-year Treasuries hovered around 4.135% (-1 basis point), while the 10-year German Bund, the benchmark for the region, settled at 2.329% (-2 basis points) on the eve of the ECB's eagerly-awaited announcements.

On the oil markets, the price of a barrel of Brent crude stabilized at $79.80 a barrel.

In French company news, Pierre & Vacances last night reported IFRS sales of €368.6 million for the 1st quarter of the 2023/2024 financial year, compared with €351.8 million a year earlier.

Interparfums reports sales growth of 13% to 798.5 million euros (+14.6% at constant exchange rates) for 2023, achieving 'another record year, in a dynamic market, particularly in the first part of the year'.

For the third quarter of 2023-24, Alstom reports sales up 2.6% to 4.33 billion euros (+4.6% organic), and orders up 5.8% to 5.45 billion (+6.4% organic).

Finally, Solvay has announced an increase in hydrogen peroxide production capacity at its Shandong Huatai Interox Chemical site in China, to meet growing demand for photovoltaics.

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