The Paris stock market has doubled its losses since 2:30 pm (publication of the January CPI), moving from -0.5% to -1% (below 7.6120).
The CAC40 escaped a dip below 7,600 thanks to Michelin's surge (+6.5%) following its results published last night (see below)... and trading volumes remain very mediocre, with 950MnsE traded around 3:15pm.

On Wall Street, the S&P500 is expected to decline by -1.2%, while the Nasdaq-100 should fall by -1.7% to -1.8%.... with the Dow Jones only posting -0.8%.

Investors are punishing the US inflation figures published at 2.30pm: consumer prices rose by 0.3% (vs. +0.2% estimated) in January, i.e. 3.1 at annual rate (vs. 3.4% the previous month).
Core underlying inflation (excluding food and energy) came in at +0.4% last month (above the median forecast of +0.3%), leaving core annual inflation unchanged at 3.9%.

T-Bond yields jumped +11Pts to 4.2850% (+45Pts since February 1), the '2-yr flies +15Pts to 4.6200% (worst score since November 30, 2023 and the morning of December 13 respectively)... and the '30-yr climbs to 4.45% (worst score since December 4, 2023 and 50Pts above the low of 12/27/2023).
This rise in yields propelled the Dollar 0.5% above its levels of the previous day (a completely 'flat' session) and the Euro retreated -0.6% towards $1.0705.
Gold naturally suffered from the greenback's firmness, dropping -0.7% towards $2,000 'all round'.

Investors were hoping that the consumer price index would come out just below the psychological threshold of 3% over one year.

For several weeks, inflation had been less of a concern for investors, who were more focused on the strength of activity and good corporate results.

But the strength of more persistent inflation than anticipated is leading investors to push back the horizon for the Federal Reserve's first rate cut (now less than 50% for May).

The market will have to wait to see the 'pivot'. It certainly won't be in March, and it's looking less and less likely in May", stresses Christopher Dembik, Investment Strategy Consultant at Pictet Asset Management.

Published earlier in the morning, the ZEW index of business sentiment in Germany picked up sharply, gaining a further 4.7 points in February to stand at +19.9: this actually concerns the 'outlook' (2/3 of business leaders are betting everything on the ECB rate cut this summer), as for the 'present situation', the ZEW continues to deteriorate: -4.4 points to -81.7, the lowest since June 2020.

In France, the unemployment rate in France (excluding Mayotte) as defined by the ILO (International Labor Office) came out at 7.5% of the working population in the last quarter of 2023, stable compared with the third quarter, whose estimate was raised by 0.1 points to 7.5%.

In news from French companies, Fnac Darty announced that the Supreme Court in London has definitively closed the litigation linked to the sale of Comet Group Limited in 2012.

On Tuesday, Wendel denied that it had acquired a stake in the insurance brokerage group Diot-Siaci, saying that it had not concluded any transaction involving the company's capital.

The Airwell Group has announced that it is taking a 13% stake in Synerpod, a French start-up that aims to massify energy renovation in collective and individual housing.

Lastly, Believe shares gained almost 19% this morning, to close in on the level corresponding to the price proposed by a consortium with a view to taking control of the group.

Up for the seventh month in a row, the ZEW economic sentiment index for Germany gained a further 4.7 points in February to stand at +19.9, returning to its highest level for a year.

This further improvement in the expectations of German financial market experts was nevertheless accompanied by a deterioration in their assessment of the current situation, with the corresponding index down 4.4 points to -81.7, the lowest since June 2020.

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