The Paris stock market is slowing down a little, gaining just 0.25% (towards 7,955), down slightly from the 7,968 tested around 4:00 pm: the 8,000Pts target remains within reach once again.
The Euro-Stoxx50 (+0.5% towards 4.917) is now in a position to set a new all-time closing record if it holds at this level.

Wall Street reopened higher as expected, but the gaps remain unchanged, with the Nasdaq-100 recovering +0.7%, the S&P500 +0.6% and the Dow Jones +0.4%.

There was little reaction from Wall Street to the figures published earlier in the afternoon: according to the monthly ADP survey, the US private sector generated 140,000 new jobs in February.
ADP points out that payrolls for job changers accelerated for the first time in over a year, rising from 7.2% to 7.6%, a level well ahead of inflation.

The labor market remains buoyant, but this is unlikely to tip the balance in terms of the Fed's rate decision this year", says Nela Richardson, Chief Economist at ADP.
Another figure: US wholesaler inventories fell by 0.3% in January 2024, compared with +0.4% in December, according to the Commerce Department.
Given that US wholesaler sales fell by 1.7% in January compared with the previous month, it took them 1.36 months to clear their inventories, a pace to be compared with 1.34 months in December.

All eyes will be on Congress, which will be hearing from Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell.

Traders are expecting Powell to reaffirm his desire to maintain a cautious approach to rate cuts, and to push back the horizon for a rate cut to June.

In addition to Jerome Powell's parliamentary speech, the day will be marked by the evening publication of the Fed's Beige Book, which should describe a US economy that is growing, but modest, far from the euphoria recently seen on the equity markets.

In Europe, retail sales figures in the eurozone confirm that European households are now more inclined to save than to consume.

A lot of good news now seems to be priced in, which could limit stock market gains, even in the event of pleasant surprises, given that many indices are trading at all-time highs.

So much so, in fact, that some analysts are currently fearing the formation of a financial market 'bubble'.

'This could, moreover, justify a restrictive monetary policy for some time, as premature rate cuts could further inflate asset prices and generate a new wave of inflationary pressures', warns JPMorgan.

While acknowledging that equity markets may indeed need a break, eToro's teams believe that the rally is underpinned by solid fundamentals.

"Markets tend to follow trends, which means that new highs often lead to further highs", points out Ben Laidler, global strategist for the Israeli neo-broker.

On the bond market, a risk-off asset-buying movement is beginning to take shape (which also explains the gold ounce's absolute record highs above $2,144), and yields have eased sharply since the start of the week, with -3Pts on T-Bonds at 4.1050% and -1.5Pts on our OATs at 2.78%, and -6Pts on Italian BTPs at 3.655%.... only Bunds are stagnating, at 2.3200%
The Dollar is also down -0.4% at 1.0900/E, with the $-Index dropping -0.35% to 103.45, a 'low' since February 1.
Oil (+1.8% to $83.75) remains in ambush at the $83.7 resistance level, less than 1% away from a switch to a more bullish scenario (like gold).

In other French news, TotalEnergies has signed an agreement with its partner QatarEnergy to acquire interests in Block 3B/4B offshore South Africa from Africa Oil South Africa, Azinam and Ricocure.

Virbac announces the signature of a definitive agreement with ORIX Corporation for the acquisition of its animal health subsidiary Sasaeah for an enterprise value of around 280 million euros, a transaction that will enable the French company to take a leading position in Japan.

Finally, Dassault Aviation has published a sales forecast of 4.8 billion euros in 2023, compared with nearly 7 billion euros in 2022. Adjusted net income will reach a 'record' level at 886 million euros, compared with 830 million euros in 2022, thanks to the strong contribution of Thales to net income.

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