The Paris Bourse is holding a lead of +0.4 to +0.5%, with the CAC40 hovering around 7,680: this could be enough to set a new all-time closing record, failing to retrace the 7,700 oints.
The CAC40 is being pulled above 7,677 by L'Oréal, Renault and AXA and URW (+2%), which more than offsets the -2% of Dassault Systèmes and the -1.1% of Cap Gemini.

Investors are counting on the series of economic indicators expected over the next few days to maintain the upward momentum in place since the start of the year.
For Wall Street, this could be the 15th in a series of 16 weeks of gains, and it's looking pretty good: while the 3 main indices had reopened slightly down, all 3 are now "turning green", starting with the S&P500... and the Nasdaq (+0.1%) is back above the 16,000 mark, while the Nasdaq-100 (+0.1% to 17,976) is only 0.2% away from 18,000.

The strength of the US economy has surprised many in recent weeks, particularly on the employment front, suggesting that growth remains solid across the Atlantic despite fears of a coming recession.

The resilience of activity has so far overshadowed tensions on the bond front, with the yield on ten-year Treasuries peaking at almost 4.19%, the highest since the start of the year.

T-Bonds eased -1.5Pt to 4.175%, while our OATs and Bunds erased around -2Pts of basis, which remains very marginal: yields are holding above the resistance thresholds breached on Friday.

In Europe, business seems to have come to a standstill since the summer, which seems to justify the discount in terms of valuation that Old Continent equities are showing compared with their American counterparts (the Amsterdam stock exchange is nevertheless soaring at +8.5% since January 1, and has risen 16 out of 17 sessions, thanks to 2 stocks that account for 100% of the rise: ASML and Adyen.

Tomorrow, the market will take note of the US consumer price index, which is expected to have slowed in January (retail sales were unchanged according to data from retail giants), which could confirm the prospect of further monetary easing.

Other important indicators will follow, such as import prices and retail sales on Thursday, before Michigan consumer confidence on Friday.

On the other hand, better-than-expected indicators could dampen enthusiasm for equities, lest they prompt the Federal Reserve to postpone future rate cuts.

Several Fed officials have recently pushed back the horizon for rate easing, with perhaps no more than two to three rate cuts envisaged for 2024, in view of singularly robust growth.

The other hoped-for catalyst could come from companies, with the fourth-quarter earnings season set to continue in the days ahead.

On the currency front, the dollar is firming by around 0.1% and the euro is down -0.15% towards $1.0765.
Penalized by rising rates and a firmer dollar, gold is falling back (-0.5%) towards 2015$/Oz, while oil is virtually unchanged but hovering above $82 in London.

Managers' attention will continue to be focused on quarterly earnings: while announcements are likely to be fewer in the US, several leading groups such as Coca-Cola, Kraft Heinz, Cisco and Applied Materials are scheduled to unveil their accounts this week.

On the other hand, the pace is set to quicken in Europe, and particularly in France, where publications from EssilorLuxottica, Capgemini, Airbus, Schneider Electric, Safran, Stellantis, Pernod Ricard, Orange and Renault are expected over the next few days.

In news from French companies, ACC (Automotive Cells Company), the battery joint venture for electric vehicles between Stellantis, Mercedes-Benz and Saft (a subsidiary of TotalEnergies), announces the closing of a €4.4 billion debt issue, guaranteed by a consortium of commercial banks.

Quadient announces that it has reached a new milestone in the development of its network of connected parcel lockers, with over 20,000 Parcel Pending by Quadient units installed in North America, Europe and Asia by the end of January 2024.

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