The Paris Bourse ended the session up 1.13% at 7,401 points, helped by a rebound in the luxury goods sector with +2.5% for LVMH, +2.2% for Kering and +1.8% for Hermès.

On the statistics front, the 'figures of the day' were rather contradictory in the US, with a fall in the Philly FED activity index (expected at -7, it came out at -10.6) but a +1.9% rise in US building permits (to 1.495 million), while housing starts (-4.3%, to 1.46 million) fell less than expected (1.43 million).

The U.S. real estate sector thus continued its mixed trend, with the recent easing of interest rates not enough to revive demand held back by historically high prices and low inventories.

The big surprise came mainly from the Labor Department, which announced -16.000 new jobless claims in the USA for the week of January 8 to 13, at 187,000, one of the lowest scores in the last 50 years (worthy of the purest 'full employment').

The four-week moving average - more representative of the underlying trend - came out at 203,250 for the same week, down 4.750 on the previous week's revised average.

Finally, the number of people receiving regular benefits fell by 26,000 to 1,806,000 in the week to January 1, the most recent period available for this statistic.

The enduring resilience of the US labor market is likely to justify more intransigent rhetoric concerning the possible loosening of financial conditions by FED members, who are monitoring both inflation (the figures are moving in the right direction) and employment (lots of employees = lots of purchasing power and a risk of price pressure).

Christopher Waller, a member of the Fed's Board of Governors, stresses that if inflation is tending towards the 2% target, this should not precipitate any rate cuts.

Market participants also had to digest the speech made by Christine Lagarde, President of the ECB, on the sidelines of the Davos Economic Forum.

Yesterday, she dashed hopes of a rate cut in the spring, instead referring to a "probable" cut in June.

The big question at the moment is whether 2024 starts with a logical hangover after an exceptional end to 2023, or whether we should expect a more difficult year ahead", summarizes Jim Reid, market analyst at Deutsche Bank.

This context of uncertainty on rates has had an impact on US ten-year Treasuries, which continue to deteriorate: the 'ten-year' has gained +2Pts (after +10% the previous day) and is back above 4.12%.

The heaviness of the bond market is also amplifying in Europe, where the yield on the ten-year German Bund - the benchmark for the eurozone - is up +3.5Pts, climbing back above 2.3070%.

The euro remains stable against the greenback, at around $1.086/euro, while Brent crude is up 0.7%, at around $78.7/barrel.

In French company news, Alstom is to deliver 18 state-of-the-art Coradia Max double-decker electric multiple units to DB Regio.

The Nov Santé Actions Non Cotées fund, managed by Eurazeo and dedicated to the development of healthcare sectors in Europe, announces the completion of its first Growth Equity investment in Kinvent.

Pernod Ricard announced yesterday the launch of Beefeater 0.0%, the alcohol-free version of one of its most prestigious brands.

Finally, LVMH announced the appointment of Michael Burke as Chairman and CEO of the LVMH Fashion Group.


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