The Paris stock market was stable this morning at around 7945 points, with performances from Eurofins Scientific (+4%) and Alstom (+2.2%) offset by declines from Teleperformance (-9.9%) and Edenred (-2.3%).

After their impressive rise since the start of the year, stock markets have begun to show signs of running out of steam in recent days, a breath of fresh air that many investors considered necessary.

All the world's major stock market indices are now hovering around their recent all-time highs, showing that investors are reluctant to push up valuations that are often considered high.

The publication, at 2.30pm, of a second estimate of US growth for the fourth quarter of 2023 could give the world's stock markets a boost.

Analysts expect the Commerce Department to confirm the strong 3.3% growth recorded by the US economy over the last three months of the year.

But the good performance of economic indicators in the USA could also undermine the prospect of an imminent Fed rate cut.

If activity remains solid across the Atlantic, or even improves, what justification is there for further monetary easing by the Federal Reserve?

In this respect, tomorrow's announcement of the PCE index of consumer spending excluding food and energy, the Fed's preferred indicator for gauging inflation, will act as a test.

In Europe, some indicators seem to be showing the beginnings of improvement - such as the PMIs published last week - but the overall picture remains gloomy.

The Eurozone business climate index, expected later this morning, could show that economic sentiment has passed its low point, without however signalling a clear rebound in growth.

European bond markets continue to deteriorate, with the German ten-year yield hovering around 2.45%, while T-Bonds of the same maturity are trading at around 4.3%.

On the currency front, the dollar and euro remained stable, with the euro still trading at $1.08.

In news from French companies, Worldline reports stable normalized net income from continuing operations for 2023 at 521 million euros, as well as adjusted EBITDA of 1.11 billion euros, representing 24.1% of sales, in line with the revised target for the year.

Airbus announces the signature of a collaboration agreement with LCI to jointly develop ecosystems for advanced air mobility (AAM), focusing on the development of partnership scenarios and business models.

Vinci announces that its subsidiary Vinci Highways has signed an agreement to acquire NWP HoldCo, which holds the concession contract for the Northwest Parkway, a 14 km toll section of the Denver ring road in the US state of Colorado.

TF1 announces a partnership between its European distribution subsidiary Newen Connect and Riff Raff Entertainment, the film and TV production company co-founded by actor Jude Law.

Finally, Atos announces the failure of its negotiations with EP Equity Investment (EPEI), the holding company of Czech billionaire Daniel Kretinsky, which was considering buying its historical activities.

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