The Paris Bourse ended the first session of the week at 7,640 points, up an insignificant 0.09%. The day's biggest gainers were Thalès (+1.6%), Danone (+1.5%) and EssilorLuxottica (+1.3%), while Carrefour (-1.6%), Crédit Agricole (-1.6%) and Bouygues (-3.4%) brought up the rear.

For the time being, the markets are ignoring the tense social situation on both sides of the Atlantic - the farmers' movement in France and the unprecedented standoff between Texas (Martial Law) and Washington - and investors' attention is focused on companies' quarterly results.

A new avalanche of results is expected in the technology sector, not forgetting this week's Fed meeting. It should be remembered that the US central bank has made it clear that it plans to cut interest rates in 2024: the question now is to determine when, by how much and at what pace.

The Federal Reserve will announce its decisions on Wednesday evening, ahead of a press conference by Chairman Jerome Powell.

While no major announcements are expected, market participants will be on the lookout for indications of how its monetary policy will evolve, especially as recent economic figures have been surprisingly strong.

Powell should leave the door open to the possibility of a rate cut in March, while avoiding reinforcing the likelihood of such a scenario for the time being", says Jim Reid, market analyst at Deutsche Bank.

According to the FedWatch tool, only 48.6% of traders now anticipate a rate cut in March, with 50.4% expecting a further 'status quo'.

The week will also be marked by the releases of heavyweights Microsoft, Apple, Alphabet, Amazon and Meta, which will be particularly closely scrutinized at a time when the Nasdaq is trading at record levels.

Given that these five stocks account for over 24% of the S&P 500's total weighting, investors could start to clear out if the news isn't good.

This week promises to be one of the busiest of the US earnings season, with a total of 106 S&P components due to present their fourth-quarter accounts.

Of the companies that have already reported, 69% have posted earnings ahead of analysts' expectations, compared with an average of 77% over the last five years.

Investors are also likely to be cautious ahead of a week packed with indicators, both in the USA and Europe.

In this respect, the most eagerly awaited data will certainly be the US employment report for January, which will shed light on the evolution of the labor market, much watched by the Fed.

Eurozone GDP figures for the fourth quarter, on Tuesday, followed by consumer prices in the region, expected on Thursday, will also be closely watched.

On the bond front, the start of the week has been comforting: last week's losses have been fully erased since this morning, with -5 basis points on T-Bonds at 4.112%, while Bunds are hovering around 2.23%.

On the currency front, the euro is down 0.4% against the greenback, at around $1.08/euro.
Brent crude is down 1.1%, at around $82.7 a barrel, while gold is up 0.4%, at around $2027 an ounce.

In French company news, SMCP (Sandro, Maje, Claudie Pierlot) is now forecasting a slightly weaker annual performance than previously announced. It now anticipates sales of around 1.23 billion euros for 2023, i.e. +3.8% growth at constant exchange rates (instead of 'mid-single-digit' growth), and an adjusted EBIT margin of between 6.4 and 6.6% of sales (instead of 7 to 9%).

Eutelsat (-14.5%) announces a revision of its financial targets ('profit warning') for the 2023-24 financial year, now expecting sales in the range of 1.25 to 1.3 billion euros (previously 1.32 to 1.42 billion).

Renault Group announces the effective arrival, on January 29, of Valérie Gillot as Director of Group and Business External Communications, a position to which she will report directly to Stéphanie Cau, Director of Communications.

Airbus US Space & Defense announces the finalization of an agreement with Eutelsat OneWeb to acquire its 50% stake in their small satellite constellation manufacturing joint venture created in 2016, Airbus OneWeb Satellites (AOS).

Finally, Alstom announces the signing of a €150 million contract with the Romanian Railway Authority (ARF) for the supply of 16 electric locomotives, with 20 years of maintenance and repair services, extendable to a further 20 years.

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