The Paris Bourse (-0.5%), unlike the Euro-Stoxx50, is unlikely to post a 9th straight week of gains.

On the technical front, the CAC 40 yesterday again stumbled over the 8250-point zone, considered a key level, but also a target for profit-taking by some traders.

The CAC40's downturn of -0.4% to -0.5% pushed the weekly balance sheet into the red (-0.2%), in a downturn that took place without any selling pressure, with only 1.25 billion euros exchanged in 6 hours of trading.
Barring a burst of activity, volume is likely to be closer to 2.5 billion euros than to 3 billion euros by the close.

The CAC40 is penalized by a further decline in the luxury goods sector, with Kering and LVMH trailing the pack at -2.7% respectively... which is also affecting the E-Stoxx50 (-0.6%), but not enough to prevent it from recording a 9th consecutive week of gains, for the 2nd time in the 21st century (after October/November 2022): a close above 5,000Pts is virtually assured and the weekly score remains close to +0.8%.
No 3rd consecutive record on Wall Street, which reopened on an indecisive note: 'adjustments' prevail after the FED's post-FOMC bullish rally (+2% in 48 hours for the Nasdaq, which fell from -0.15 to -0.2% but gained +2.5% over the past week).

The temptation to take profits is great in the face of the current high valuations, which could push traders to take some gains on current levels while awaiting new catalysts.

'There will of course be a breathing space for the market. This is necessary after the spectacular rise at the start of the year", says Christopher Dembik, Investment Strategy Advisor at Pictet AM.

"In the long term, we remain convinced that the underlying trend is upward", the analyst moderates, however.

This view is shared by Alexandre Baradez, head of market analysis at IG France, who is not known for being the most bullish strategist in Paris.

According to the analyst, the Paris index still has considerable upside potential, with the psychological rather than technical 10,000-point level in sight.

I obviously don't think we'll go in a straight line to these levels, but these are achievable objectives over the medium term", he told Cercle Finance.

Although the final session of the week promises to be relatively light on economic data, investors will nevertheless be focusing on the Ifo business climate index for Germany, which was published this morning.

The rise in the Ifo Business Climate Index (BCI) from an upwardly revised 85.7 in February to 87.8 in March was well above expectations (consensus 86.0; CE 85.5), reports Capital Economics. It is at its highest level since last June.

On the bond front, Bunds ended the week well, easing -7pts to 2.3250%, while our OATs were content with -4pts to 2.800% and Italian BTPs with just -3pts to 3.642%.
On the currency front, the Dollar continued to climb: +0.4% to 1.0815 against the Euro, which lost 0.6% over the week.
This demonstrates a very different reading of Jerome Powell's announcements on Wednesday evening: Forex traders don't seem to be buying into the narrative of an 'accommodating' FED... because 3 rate cuts instead of the 7 or 8 hoped for at the end of 2023, will ensure a yield of 5% for another 2 quarters.



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