The Paris Bourse ended the first session of April with a sharp 0.92% decline to 8130 points, with TotalEnergies' performance (+3.9%) largely offset by declines for Stellantis (-3.2%), Sanofi, Dassault Systèmes and Legrand (-2.6% each).

The Paris index had started the morning in the green, testing the 8250-point resistance level shortly after the opening and even setting a new all-time record at 8253 points.

Back from the Easter long weekend, the markets are facing a sudden rise in yields (+13 to +14pts on Bunds to 2.422% and our OATs to 2.9400%), +5pts on US T-Bonds which are flirting with 4.40%, a phenomenon which comes on the heels of a 6-month high for oil with a barrel of Brent crude at $88.9 (+1.2%).

On the statistics front, in France, the PMI HCOB buyers' index for manufacturing industry, produced by S&P Global, came in at 46.2 in March: down on February's eleven-month high (47.1), it highlights a sharp deterioration in the sector's economic situation.

Meanwhile, at 46.1 in March, the HCOB PMI index for eurozone manufacturing industry, produced by S&P Global, was down on February (46.5) to its lowest level for three months.

This downturn was due to the movement in supplier delivery times and purchasing inventories, while production saw its smallest decline since April 2023 and the fall in new orders slowed for a fifth consecutive month.

In the US, after falling by 3.8% in January (revised from an initial estimate of -3.6%), orders to US industry recovered by 1.4% in February 2024, according to the Commerce Department.

Deliveries by US industry also rose by 1.4% in February compared with the previous month. Finally, with inventories up 0.3%, the inventory-to-delivery ratio fell from 1.49 to 1.47 month-on-month.

Markets will be paying close attention to Fed Chairman Jerome Powell's speech on the economic outlook at a forum organized by Stanford University (California) on Wednesday.

A new episode of tension between Israel and Iran is also pushing up oil prices and safe-haven assets following strikes by Tsahal on the Iranian consulate in Damascus, which left several people dead.
On the currency front, the euro is up +0.2% at $1.077/E.

In French company news, Airbus announces that Korean Air has become a new customer for its wide-body A350s, following the signing of a firm order for 33 aircraft in this family, including 27 A350-1000s and six A350-900s.

Eutelsat Group announces the successful weekend launch and deployment into geostationary transfer orbit (GEO) of the Eutelsat 36D satellite, aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from launch pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

Voltalia is reporting net income (group share) of 29.6 million euros for 2023, compared with a loss of 7.2 million in 2022, boosted by a 76% increase in EBITDA to 241.1 million, representing a margin improvement of almost 20 points to 48.7%.

Finally, TF1 announced that its audience figures for March were in line with performances in January and February, i.e. with strong growth momentum. The television group reported that it was "by far the leader" among its main target audiences, and that it achieved its best-ever month in March, with a number of new records.

Copyright (c) 2024 CercleFinance.com. All rights reserved.