After gaining as much as 1.5% in the late morning, the Paris Bourse closed the session with a more limited gain of 0.72%, at 7322 points, driven in particular by TotalEnergies, which gained 3.4%.

Yesterday, the markets were concerned by various headwinds affecting the banking sector, a fear that seems to have eased today in view of the performances of BNP Paribas and Société Générale, which gained nearly 2% for a long time before closing at +1.3%. Further back, Crédit Agricole gained nearly 1% this morning before falling to -0.1% at the close.

It has to be said that investors are cautious on the eve of the publication by the US Department of Labor of its monthly report on consumer prices, which may have held up well in July.

As usual, operators will be looking for the long-awaited inflexion point in the tightening of monetary policies as signs of slowing inflation multiply.

A series of data from the USA recently suggested that inflation could soon be close to the Federal Reserve's 2% target, without the need for a recession.

The only indicator on the agenda, US oil inventories rose to 445.6 million barrels in the week to July 31 in the USA, signaling a 5.9 million barrel increase in stockpiles compared with the previous week, according to data from the US Energy Information Agency (EIA).

Despite the rise in inventories, the price of Brent crude oil rose by 0.9%, to $87, and WTI by 1%, to $83.6.

On the bond front, the yield on 10-year Treasuries stagnated at around 4%, while that on 10-year German bunds climbed back to 2.47%, behind OATs at 3.03%.

Lastly, the euro is up nearly 0.25% against the greenback, trading at around $1.0986.

News from French companies is quiet, although yesterday Stellantis unveiled a new brand, bproauto, designed to strengthen its aftermarket offering in North America.

On Wednesday, AlphaValue renewed its Buy recommendation on Sanofi, with a price target of 132 euros, corresponding to a potential upside of 38%.

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