The Paris Bourse consolidates a +0.5% lead, with the CAC40 climbing above 7,680: this should be enough to set a new all-time closing record, failing to retrace the 7,700-point mark (suspense!).700 (suspense!).
The CAC40 is led by L'Oréal, Renault and AXA and URW (+2%), more than offsetting the -2% of Dassault Systèmes and the -1.1% of Cap Gemini.
The Euro-Stoxx50 (+0.6%) shatters a new all-time record at 4,744 on the back of a very strong performance by the French stock market.744 in the wake of Amsterdam (+1.3%), which posted its 16th gain in 17 sessions (and +10% in a straight line since January 17, thanks to 2 stocks that accounted for 100% of the rise: ASML and Adyen).

For Wall Street, this could be the 15th week in a series of 16 upwards, and it's off to a good start: while the 3 main indices had reopened slightly down, all 3 are now "turning green", starting with the S&P500 (record at 5,035)... and the Nasdaq composite (+0.3%) is back above the 16,000 mark.000, while the Nasdaq-100 (+0.25%) has just validated the 18,000 mark, an all-time record.

Investors are counting on the series of economic indicators expected in the coming days to maintain the bullish momentum in place since the start of the year.

The strength of the US economy has surprised in recent weeks, particularly on the employment front, which tends to suggest that growth remains solid across the Atlantic despite fears of a coming recession.

The resilience of activity has so far overshadowed tensions on the bond front, with the yield on 10-year Treasuries peaking at almost 4.19%, the highest since the start of the year.

T-Bonds have seen their initial easing evaporate (+1Pt to 4.200%), and our OATs and Bunds are now showing only a very marginal easing of -1.5Pt: yields are holding above the resistance thresholds breached on Friday.

In Europe, activity seems to have stalled since the summer, which seems to justify the discount in terms of valuation that Old Continent equities are showing compared with their US counterparts.

Tomorrow, the market will learn of the US consumer price index, which is expected to have slowed in January (retail sales were unchanged according to data from giant retailers), which could confirm the prospect of further monetary easing.

Other important indicators will follow, such as import prices and retail sales on Thursday, before Michigan consumer confidence on Friday.

On the other hand, better-than-expected indicators could dampen enthusiasm for equities, lest they prompt the Federal Reserve to postpone future rate cuts.

Several Fed officials have recently pushed back the horizon for rate easing, with perhaps no more than two to three rate cuts envisaged for 2024, in view of singularly robust growth.

The other hoped-for catalyst could come from companies, with the fourth-quarter earnings season set to continue in the days ahead.

On the currency front, the dollar is firming by around 0.1% and the euro is down -0.15% towards $1.0765.
Penalized at $1215/Oz, oil is virtually unchanged but remains above $82 in London.

Managers' attention will continue to be focused on quarterly earnings: while announcements are likely to be fewer in the US, several leading groups such as Coca-Cola, Kraft Heinz, Cisco and Applied Materials are scheduled to unveil their accounts this week.

In Europe, on the other hand, the pace is set to quicken, particularly in France, where EssilorLuxottica, Capgemini, Airbus, Schneider Electric, Safran, Stellantis, Pernod Ricard, Orange and Renault are all due to publish in the next few days.

In news from French companies, ACC (Automotive Cells Company), the battery joint venture for electric vehicles between Stellantis, Mercedes-Benz and Saft (a subsidiary of TotalEnergies), announces the closing of a €4.4 billion debt issue, guaranteed by a consortium of commercial banks.

Quadient announces that it has reached a new milestone in the development of its network of connected parcel lockers, with over 20,000 Parcel Pending by Quadient units installed in North America, Europe and Asia by the end of January 2024.

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