The CAC40 is now in the red following an agreement reached in extremis this weekend in Congress to avoid a 'shutdown', i.e. a partial closure of the federal administration in the USA. The CAC40 is down 0.4% towards 7100Pts.

'The agreement for temporary funding will only last until November 17', Commerzbank reminds us, warning that 'as a result, a new edition of the budget drama looms in a few weeks' time'.

In the meantime, this agreement will avoid a delay in the publication of certain US statistics, such as industrial orders and the trade balance for August, and above all the official employment report for September.

More globally, several statistics were published today, including the PMI activity indices - for the manufacturing sector, as well as data for the Eurozone such as the unemployment rate and producer prices for August.

At 43.4 in September, the HCOB PMI index for eurozone manufacturing was down very slightly on the previous month (43.5), signalling a further deterioration in industrial conditions in the eurozone.

The HCOB PMI index for the French manufacturing industry, produced by S&P Global, fell from 46 in August to 44.2 in September, dropping further below the unchanged 50 mark and posting its lowest level since May 2020.

The unemployment rate in the eurozone came in at a seasonally-adjusted 6.4% in August, compared with 6.5% the previous month, announced Eurostat. In the EU, the unemployment rate stood at 5.9% in August 2023, down from 6.0% in July 2023.

In securities news, Casino announced that it had completed the sale of the first wave of 61 outlets to Groupement Les Mousquetaires, and extended the deadline for concluding a lock-up agreement with its creditors to October 3.

Traders will also be able to react to the results unveiled by agri-food group Bonduelle for its 2022-23 financial year, as well as those of healthcare IT specialist Equasens for the first six months of the year.

Airbus announces that LATAM Airlines has taken delivery of its first A321neo leased from AerCap, and has placed an order for a further 13 A321neo aircraft to expand its route network and stimulate regional growth.

Barclays has raised its recommendation on Vivendi from 'in-line weighted' to 'overweight', with an adjusted price target of 11.5 to 11.6 euros, highlighting in particular a cheap valuation for the French communications and entertainment group.

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