The Paris stock market was down by almost 0.2% this morning, at around 8090 points, despite the performance of Renault, which gained over 3%.

The Paris index is thus heading for a second consecutive week of declines, despite the buoyant news of the past few days.

The Paris market's feverish pace follows last night's sharp decline on Wall Street, where rising bond yields fueled investor nervousness.

At this stage of the week, the CAC is down 1%. In New York, the major indices are also heading for a negative week, with the Dow down by more than 2% and the Nasdaq down by 0.3%.

However, this relapse seems difficult to explain on the basis of the week's news flow, marked by Nvidia's stratospheric results and PMI indices testifying to the economic recovery in Europe.

This trend reversal may well be due to a desire on the part of investors to take a few profits at a time when the world's stock markets have been flying from record to record recently.

In addition to profit-taking, the downward trend can be attributed to the uncertainty surrounding the timing of future Fed rate cuts, a situation largely reinforced by the cautious 'minutes' published this week by the institution.

On the bond market, the yield on 10-year Treasury bonds resumed an upward slope this week to flirt with the 4.50% mark yesterday, having fallen to one-month lows last week.

In view of the solid performance recorded by the equity markets since the beginning of May, which was precisely due to a fall in bond yields, this served as an excuse to take partial profits", explain Danske Bank's teams.

Investors are now waiting to turn their attention to the day's statistics, starting with durable goods orders and the Michigan consumer confidence index, due to be published in the afternoon in the United States.

In the meantime, business sentiment in France was stable in May compared with April, according to the synthetic indicator calculated by Insee, which stood at 99, just below its long-term average (100).

Across the Rhine, the German economy grew by 0.2% in the first quarter compared with the previous three months, thanks to buoyant exports and investment spending, according to detailed statistics published on Friday, confirming the initial estimate.

While the downturn in the stock markets has calmed things down a little, after a number of all-time highs, the positive trend remains intact, according to some strategists.

According to analysts at Swiss private bank Lombard Odier, stock markets should continue to rise in 2024.

The scenario of resilient global growth and falling inflation remains valid, despite short-term uncertainties", emphasize Luca Bindelli, Head of Investment Strategy, and Edmund Ng, Senior Equity Strategist.

"These buoyant winds for equity markets should continue into 2024", assure the two specialists.

In news from French companies, Alstom reports that it has placed a €750 million super-subordinated ('hybrid') bond issue, which was 'massively oversubscribed, reflecting strong demand from different geographical areas and investor categories'.

Teleperformance announces that its Board of Directors has decided to cancel three million treasury shares, representing 4.7% of the share capital, shares that had been bought back under a program implemented in April 2023.

Lastly, Renault's share price has risen by over 3%, making it the biggest gainer on the CAC 40 and SBF 120 indices. In a note released this morning, UBS changed its opinion to 'neutral' from 'sell', and raised its target price from €31 to €50.

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