The Paris Bourse (+0.15% to 7,580) is just 0.2% short of another bullish week.

Mission accomplished, and with honors for Wall Street, where the indices are set to record their 8th consecutive week of gains.
The long Christmas weekend (4 days in Paris and on Euronext markets) is on the cards.
The S&P500 is still closing in on its records, with +0.5% to 4,772 (i.e. +1.1% weekly and +3.4% in December).772 (+1.1% weekly and +3.4% in December), the Nasdaq-100 rises by the same amount to 16,830 (+4.4% monthly) and could record its best ever close; the Dow Jones settles for +0.3% to 37,520... but gravitates just 0.1% away from a new all-time record, and there are still 6 hours of trading left.

All suspense about the continuation of the funicular rise has evaporated with the good 'PCE' inflation figures in the USA.
PCE inflation - the indicator on which the Federal Reserve relies to monitor the trajectory of prices - stood at 2.6% year-on-year in November, down 0.3 points on October, and in 'core' data (excluding food and energy) contracted from 3.4% to 3.2% month-on-month, according to the Commerce Department.

Published at the same time, consumer spending in the US rose by 0.2% month-on-month in October, on revenues up 0.4% month-on-month.

After falling by 5.1% in October, orders for durable goods rose by 5.4% in the USA in November (+2.2% expected), according to statistics published this Friday by the Commerce Department.

The increase was mainly driven by the transportation sector (aircraft orders).
Excluding the transportation sector, the rise in new orders for durable goods would have been limited to 0.5%.

New home sales and consumer confidence in Michigan remain to be seen.

Despite the accommodating tone adopted by the central bank last week, investors are beginning to fear that the Fed may decide to slow its rate cuts next year in the face of persistent inflation (with wages rising sharply) and solid economic data.
Bond markets are marking time a little, but there's no reversal of polarity in sight: T-Bonds are at 3.8700% (-1.5Pt), Bunds and OATs are treading water, but not giving up.

"With only a few sessions to go before the annual close, the CAC 40 index remains torn between holding on to its performance and the risk of losing last week's all-time record too quickly", explain Kiplink's chartists.
The euro is rising against the dollar (1.1010) to test new highs since the summer, with investors betting that the US Fed will beat the ECB with its first rate cuts.
The Dollar Index (-0.4% to 101.45) is on the verge of confirming that a major support level has been breached: 101.90 (next target: the '100' level, then 94).

The oil market continues to be underpinned by geopolitical factors, in this case tensions in the Red Sea, which more than offset the prospect of a slowdown in global economic activity.
Brent crude thus appreciated by 1.2% to $80.3 a barrel.

Note that gold, the safe-haven par excellence, is also at its highest at $2053 an ounce (+1%)... and the fall in the $ could send it above $2100/Oz.

In French company news, Pernod Ricard announces that it has signed an agreement to sell the Becherovka brand and associated assets, including the Karlovy Vary production site, to the Maspex group. Subject to the usual conditions precedent, the sale is expected to be finalized by the end of June 2024.

Vinci reports that, via its local subsidiary Seymour Whyte, it has won a contract worth over 86 million euros to upgrade the Cressbrook dam at Toowoomba, near Brisbane in the Australian state of Queensland.

Finally, Neoen announces that it has signed a turnkey EPC contract with a joint venture of Bouygues Construction Australia and Bouygues Energies & Services, officially launching the construction of the Culcairn solar power plant in the Australian state of New South Wales.

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