The Paris Bourse ended the day's trading session with an anecdotal gain of 0.09%, at 7083 points, a modest performance which nonetheless enabled it to record its 11th session of gains (out of 13) since the start of the year, representing a gain of 9.7% in 2023.

Much like yesterday, the Paris Bourse reached its peak in mid-afternoon (around 7115 points) before easing off at the end of the day.

The trend was more laborious on Wall Street, with -1% for the Dow Jones, -0.7% for the S&P500 and -0.5% for the Nasdaq.

Investors took note of several statistics published during the day.
In the US, overall producer price inflation slowed sharply, by -0.5% in December 2022 compared with the previous month, but core inflation rose by 0.1% excluding food, energy and commercial services.

Over the last twelve months, producer prices rose by 6.2% on a reported basis and by 4.6% excluding food, energy and commercial services, after annual rates of 7.3% and 4.9% respectively in November.

US retail sales fell more than expected in December 2022, contracting by 1.1% after a 1% decline the previous month, according to the Commerce Department.

Excluding the automotive sector (vehicles, equipment and service stations), U.S. retail sales contracted by 0.7%.

Following a 0.6% drop in November 2022, U.S. industrial production fell again last month, by 0.7%, according to the Federal Reserve, a much steeper decline than the average economist expected.

In detail, manufacturing output contracted by -1.3% and mining and quarrying by 0.9%, while utilities output jumped by 3.8%, as cold temperatures boosted demand for heating.

Production nevertheless rose by 1.6% year-on-year, with energy (oil and gas) playing a key role.
The industrial capacity utilization rate fell by 0.6 points to 78.8%, a level 0.8 points below its long-term average (1972-2021).

Investors also took note of the final consumer price figures for the eurozone for December: the annual inflation rate stood at 9.2% in December 2022, compared with 10.1% in November, according to Eurostat, which thus confirms its flash estimate for the final month of last year.

The European Union's annual inflation rate stood at 10.4% in December 2022, compared with 11.1% the previous month, with the lowest rate observed in Spain (5.5%) and the highest in Hungary (25%).

These figures were very well received on the bond front, with further easing of -12pts on our OATs to 2.417%, -10pts on Bunds to 1.9880% and on Spanish Bonos (-14pts to 2.927%), while Italian BTPs erased almost -20pts to 3.695%.
The US economy also improved, with T-Bonds down -13.5pts to 3.400%.

The dollar fell back -0.5% to retrace its annual low at 1.0870E.

Note a new bullish push for oil, with Brent crude at $87.2 in London (+0.5%).

In French company news, Renault Group announced its worldwide sales figures for 2022. They amount to 2,051,174 vehicles, down 5.9%.

Stellantis has signed an agreement with Terrafame for the supply of nickel sulfate for electric vehicle batteries.

BNP Paribas reports receipt of regulatory approvals for the completion of the sale of its US subsidiary Bank of the West to BMO Financial Group, a transaction which was the subject of an agreement announced in December 2021.

Airbus reports that Delta Air Lines will renew its fleet by executing options for 12 new Airbus A220-300s, scheduled for delivery in 2026 and 2027.

Finally, Thales announces that the Groupement Momentané d'Entreprise (GME) formed by Sabena technics and Thales, has been awarded a contract by the Direction Générale de l'Armement for the renovation of the French Air Force's fleet of CN-235 twin-turboprop tactical transport and logistics aircraft.

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