The Paris Bourse (+0.05%) posted its 3rd session of complete stagnation (between 7,550 and 7,590 for 95% of trading): the CAC40 advanced in insignificant volumes (less than 1 billion euros traded in 8 hours).
The CAC40 was weighed down by Renault and Safran, which lost 1.6%, and Airbus with -1.5%, offset by a +1.6% rise in Unibail and Teleperformance, and a +1.2% rise in BNP-Paribas.

The Euro-Stoxx50 fell by -0.15% to 4,528, the day after a session marked by a record close at 4,550Pts.
Wall Street continued its upward trend: the S&P500 (+0.1% to 4,774Pts) posted its 10th consecutive session of gains (despite FEDEX's -10% plunge), as did the Nasdaq-100 (+0.2%), which set a new all-time record at 16.835Pts... and the Nasdaq Composite gains +0.3% in the wake of the 'Fantastic 7', which are all in the green after 90 minutes of trading.

The Dow Jones also emerges from the red... and positions itself for new records.
Wall Street welcomed the rebound in consumer confidence to 110 (vs. 103 expected, the fall in inflation reassuring) as well as the +0.8% rise in sales of old homes in the United States last month compared with October, to 3.82 million at an annualized rate and in seasonally-adjusted data (CVS), according to the National Association of Realtors (NAR).
The median selling price reached $387.600, up 4% year-on-year, and the stock of unsold existing homes fell by 1.7% month-on-month to 1.13 million at the end of November, or 3.5 months at the current rate.

The race for absolute records continues in New York, in the wake of US long rates, which continue to ease (-6.5pts on the '10-yr' to 3.893%) despite all the 'caveats' expressed by members of the FED in the face of a consensus of 6 to 8 rate cuts in 2024, when the FED is forecasting only 3.... and UBS anticipates between 10 and 11 (justifying an additional 10% rise in US indices over the next few months).
Interest rate futures now incorporate a 69% probability of a rate cut following the Fed's meeting at the end of March, compared with 28% a month ago, according to CME Group's FedWatch barometer.

While the latest US inflation figures are expected tomorrow, the day's agenda will be limited to the release of US old home sales figures, followed by the Conference Board's consumer confidence index.
In the UK, inflation contracted sharply, from 4.6% to 3.9%, and Gilts erased -9pts to 3.565%.

On the European bond front, the party never ends, even if the ECB has yet to announce any rate cuts before the 2nd half of 2024: the ten-year Bund, the eurozone's true benchmark rate, is down -4pts to 1.972%, its lowest since March 19 or mid-December 2022, our OATs are down -4.5pts to 2.483% and Italian BTPs -5pts to 3.601%, their lowest since... August 21, 2022.

On the foreign exchange market, the euro traded at $1.0960 (-0.2%).

On the commodities front, oil prices confirmed their recovery, as a growing number of attacks on ships in the Red Sea by Yemeni Houthi rebels with close ties to Iran disrupted maritime trade.

Brent crude oil is currently up nearly 1.3% at $80.3 a barrel in London.

In other French company news, Alstom announced today the launch of its first digital experience center in Bangalore, India.

Orange Business announces the acquisition of Expertime, a services company specialized in Microsoft technologies, to contribute to its ambition to accelerate its growth in digital services and become the benchmark network and digital integrator in Europe.

Following the devaluation of more than 50% of the Argentine peso on December 13, Verallia warns that the impact of converting its local sales into euros will not enable it to achieve its annual growth target of at least 20% of total sales by 2023.

Finally, the Caisse des Dépôts-led consortium comprising CNP Assurances, MAIF and MACSF announced last night that it held 50.2% of Orpea following the capital increase completed by the retirement home operator.


Copyright (c) 2023 CercleFinance.com. All rights reserved.