After gaining more than 1% in the morning, the Paris Bourse surrendered some of these gains in the second half of the session.

The Parisian index ended the day with a gain of 0.47%, at 7198 points, driven in particular by the form of the automotive sector, with Renault and Stellantis posting the day's best gains (+1.8%).

Bonds are still hovering around their highs, with T-Bonds at 4.34%, while the yield on the 10-year German Bund, the benchmark on the European bond market, also peaked at 2.70%, corresponding to a near-doubling over the past 12 months and a retracement of the worst levels of mid-February 2023.

The fourth week of August will be marked on Thursday by the traditional end-of-summer Jackson Hole meeting of the world's leading central bankers, who will be meeting against a backdrop of questions about the evolution of monetary policies.

This meeting, always closely followed by the markets, will conclude with a speech by Jerome Powell, Chairman of the Federal Reserve.
Investors are hoping for an improvement in general sentiment, which would enable them to break out of the current phase of risk aversion that is shaking the markets.

'The enthusiasm that surrounded the resilience of the economy, the moderation of inflation and the emergence of artificial intelligence has not disappeared, but it has been obscured by worries about global growth and the recent rise in interest rates', explains Craig Fehr, strategist at Edward Jones.

The unknown factor of inflation seems particularly likely to prompt central bankers to exercise caution.

Powell is likely to adopt a less nuanced stance at Jackson Hole in our view, given that the latest indicators clearly point to a risk of rising inflation", warn BofA economists.

The week in Europe will also be punctuated by the publication, on Wednesday, of the results of the monthly purchasing managers' surveys (PMI) on private sector activity in the major European economies.

The foreign exchange market remains very calm, with the dollar stuck at 1.0880/E; Brent crude fluctuates little at $84.8 (-0.2%).

In French company news, Visiomed shares, whose trading had been suspended on Friday, gained almost 29%.

TotalEnergies announced that it had signed an agreement with INPEX to acquire PTTEP's 100% interest in the AC-RL7 permit in Australia, subject to approval by the relevant authorities.

Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield announced Friday evening that it had closed a new $925 million financing package for Westfield Century City, its shopping center in the heart of Los Angeles.

Finally, Saint-Gobain announced that it had obtained Competition Bureau clearance for the acquisition of Building Products of Canada, a producer of residential roofing shingles and wood-fiber insulation panels in Canada.


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