The Paris stock market gained nearly 0.6% this morning, around 7,660 points, driven by URW (+6.1%), Kering (+3.5%) and Stellantis (+2.3%).

Investors are still digesting the flurry of quarterly results at the start of the morning, including releases from ArcelorMittal, Crédit Agricole, Kering, Publicis and Société Générale.

In the early afternoon, the release of US jobless claims statistics could confirm the hypothesis of a "soft landing" for the US economy.

On Wall Street, investors still seem convinced that a "Goldilocks"-type scenario will materialize, encouraging them to continue to turn to the equity markets.

Despite this, caution prevails in the bond markets, where investors are still digesting - with some difficulty - the latest statements by Jerome Powell and Neel Kashkari.

The Fed's two top dignitaries have pushed back the horizon for rate easing, with perhaps no more than two to three rate cuts envisaged in 2024, due to growth that remains singularly robust.

As a result, US Treasury yields are tightening again, with the 10-year paper reaching 4.11%. In Europe, the 10-year Bund, the zone's benchmark, is approaching 2.3%.

Brent crude is down 0.4% at around $79.1 a barrel, while the euro remains stable against the greenback at $1.077/euro.

In news from French companies, Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield (URW) is up over 6% this morning after reporting an increase of 3.3% in adjusted recurring earnings per share (RNRAPA) for 2023 to 9.62 euros, ahead of its forecasts, as well as EBITDA of 2.2 billion, up 6.7% on a like-for-like basis.

Crédit Agricole (-5.9%) announces that it will raise its 2023 dividend to 1.05 euros per share (+24% year-on-year, excluding 2019 catch-up) for underlying EPS up 6.5% to 1.80 euros over the past year, as well as stable underlying ROTE at 12.6%.

Société Générale reports a 36.6% increase in net income for 2023 to 2.49 billion euros and a 1.7 point improvement in ROTE to 4.2%, despite a 28.2% drop in gross operating income (GOI) to 6.58 billion.

ArcelorMittal reported Group Ebitda, the indicator most closely followed by the market, of $1.27 billion in the fourth quarter, up from $1.26 billion the previous year and well above the average analyst forecast of $1.2 billion.

Kering, parent company of Gucci, Yves Saint Laurent and Bottega Veneta, is forecasting recurring net income, group share, down 18% to 3.06 billion euros for 2023, with a recurring operating margin of 24.3%, down from 27.5% in 2022.

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