The CAC40 ended the session at 8204 points (+0.25%), setting a new all-time closing record, supported by Veolia (+1.9%), Orange (+1.6%) and STMicro (+1.5%).

By mid-afternoon, the Parisian index had already set a new all-time record, briefly visiting 8230 points.

Most of the performance of equity markets since the beginning of the year, and even over the last 18 months, has been due to the expansion of valuation multiples", analyze JPMorgan's teams.

At global level, 12-month forward earnings have risen by only 7% from their lows, while the price/earnings ratio (P/E) has risen by almost 30%", the US bank points out.

Investors now seem to be waiting for further signs of a healthy economy and confirmation that inflation is easing, in order to extend the upward trend that has been underway since the autumn.

With this in mind, the markets will turn their attention on Friday to US household income and spending statistics, which will be accompanied by the 'PCE' component of prices, the Fed's preferred measure of inflation.

In the meantime, "macro" news is keeping a low profile on Wednesday: according to data published by the US Energy Information Administration (EIA), US crude oil inventories stood at 448.2 million barrels for the week ending March 18, up 3.2 million barrels on the previous week's level.

In detail, inventories of distillate products - including heating oil - fell by 1.2 million barrels, while gasoline stocks rose by 1.3 million barrels, again compared with the previous week, continues the agency.

Finally, the EIA points out that refineries operated at 88.7% of their operational capacity during the same week, with average production of 9.2 million barrels/day.

On the bond front, the session proved favorable for T-Bonds with -3.5pts to 4.19%, Bunds eased by -4.8pts to 2.29%, our OATs by -4.7pts to 2.7850% (same spread for Italian BTPs at 3.607%.

The Euro loses a few fractions against the Dollar (-0.15% to 1.0815$/E).

In French company news, composite fabrics manufacturer SergeFerrari Group has published a net income (group share) for 2023 of 4.7 million euros, compared with 15.5 million in 2022, as well as a REBIT of 11.3 million, compared with 26.5 million the previous year.

Following an initial sale of Nissan shares last December, Renault Group has announced a second operation with the intention of selling up to 100,242,900 Nissan shares, representing around 2.5% of the Japanese company's capital.

On Wednesday, OVHcloud announced a strategic partnership with OneNeck IT Solutions, with the aim of offering services to their joint customer base, initially in the United States.

Finally, TotalEnergies announced the launch of a mobility card designed to enable its customers to recharge their electric vehicles anywhere in France. Called 'Charge+', the card will give access to a network of 100,000 public charging points throughout France.

The company also announced that its subsidiary Saft has delivered back-up batteries for safety-critical tunnel systems along a new section of the USBRL rail link in the Kashmir Valley, in the Indian Himalayas.

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