The Paris Bourse ended the session with a gain of 0.22%, at 7812 points, driven by Carrefour (+4.9%), Alstom (+4.4%) and Pernod Ricard (+1.5%).
The Paris index thus set a new closing record. A few minutes earlier, the CAC had also reached the record level of 7822 points.

In addition to the Fed's 'minutes' expected in the next few hours, many traders are now awaiting Nvidia's results, which will be published after the Wall Street close.

Analysts are expecting the computer giant's quarterly results to exceed market expectations (5-fold increase in profit), and for the group to raise its annual targets (above $60 billion in annual sales, as this figure is already in the market).

Any disappointment could be enough to trigger a correction, given that Nvidia's share price has gained 40% since the start of the year and more than 230% over the past 12 months (the stock pays between 20 and 25 times its sales, based on the most optimistic expectations).

Christopher Dembik, Investment Strategy Advisor at Pictet Asset Management, points out that over the past eight years, Nvidia has exceeded consensus expectations on seven occasions. This will certainly be the case again", he prophesies.

On the fixed-income market, heaviness prevailed once again on Wednesday after six negative weeks, resulting in the yield on 10-year Treasuries rising above 4.29% (+1.6 pts).
In Europe, the Bund with the same maturity deteriorated by +7 pts to 2.44%.

Note that the euro remains perfectly stable against the greenback, at around $1.08/E. The single currency does not rule the day. The single currency did not react to the German government's lowering of growth forecasts from +0.4% to +0.2%.

Oil prices continue to move within tight limits, torn between the current crisis in the Middle East on the one hand, and the prospects of support from OPEC+ and improved risk appetite as the US rate-cutting cycle approaches on the other.

Brent gained 0.2% to $82.7/barrel, while gold gained 0.4% to $2025/oz.

In French company news, Edenred fell -11.5% after the opening of an investigation into its activities in Italy: the Rome public prosecutor's office is reportedly investigating offences of aggravated fraud, public contract rigging and various administrative offences.

Carrefour was the CAC40's biggest gainer following the publication of its results last night.
The retailer reported 2023 sales of 94.13 billion euros (+10.4% on a comparable basis), adjusted net income (group share) of 1304 ME (+7.6%), and adjusted EPS of 1.83 euros (+12%): Carrefour also announced a near doubling of its dividend.

Airbus announced this morning that Taiwan's Starlux Airlines had placed a firm order for five brand-new A350F freighters and three additional A330neo wide-body jets, at the Singapore Air Show.

Technip Energies announced on Wednesday that it had made a 'strategic' investment in a fund dedicated to the development of sustainable aviation fuels (SAF).

Thales announced a contract with Malaysia Airlines under which 20 Airbus A330neo aircraft in its fleet will be equipped with its Flight Management System (FMS), as well as with ACSS' Traffic Collision Avoidance Systems (T3CAS).

Finally, Airbus and TotalEnergies have signed a strategic partnership to meet the challenges of decarbonizing the aviation sector through sustainable aviation fuels.

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