(BFM Bourse) – Investor doubts about future rate cuts from major central banks still set the trend. Over the week, the CAC 40 lost more than 1.2%.
The trend in the Paris Stock Exchange is feverish. The CAC 40 was down 0.4% on Friday evening, down 7,400 points at 7,371.64 points. On a weekly basis, the Paris Stock Exchange’s flagship index fell 1.25% despite rising 1.1% on Thursday.
Market progress depends on investors’ doubts about future rate cuts from major central banks. And it is not the figures released today in the United States that will force the American Federal Reserve to cut its rates from March.
We can cite the morale of American investors which is in good condition, so that it is at its highest level since July 2021, according to the American Consumer Confidence Index compiled by the University of Michigan. It thus stood at 78.8 in January, against the expected 70 points, and after 69.7 in December.
Bond yields therefore continued to rise in light of these figures which once again rule out the possibility of a downward move on key rates by the Fed. The yield on the US 10-year bond rose to 4.17% from 4.20%.
According to CME Group’s FedWatch tool, the market now puts the probability of a rate cut by the US Federal Reserve (Fed) in early March at 52%, compared with around 90% in December.
In Europe, the same fear is also reflected in bond yields, with the yield on German 10-year trading at 2.30% and French debt of the same maturity moving at 2.82%.
Analysts lead the way
Some stocks are attributed to analyst ratings. Teleperformance jumped 8.6% thanks to Stifel’s switch to value buying, and decided the group was at the “start of a new adventure”.
Crédit Agricole SA rose 1.1%, led by Morgan Stanley which moved from “online waiting” to “online waiting”, meaning it is no longer for sale at the mutual bank.
Lisi sank more than 10% after the Peugeot family sold 1.9 million shares through its holding company Peugeot Invest at 21 euros a share, a 12% discount to Thursday’s closing price.
Auto equipment manufacturers suffer: Fourvia 7%, Valeo 6.2%, Plastics Omnium 4.8%. “Planets are not well aligned with the sector, the environment for 2024 looks critical, stock rebuilding movements have gone beyond reasonable, inflation continues and returns from producers may not be up to par”, an analyst underlined.
On the small and mid-cap side, a crazy day for 2CRSi which surged over 55% after announcing deliveries and sales on top of servers specialized for artificial intelligence.
On other markets, the euro was almost steady at $1.0885 against the dollar. Oil prices are heading lower. The March North Sea Brent contract fell 0.6% to $78.61 a barrel, while the February contract for WTI listed in New York fell 0.9% to $73.31 a barrel.
Sabrina Sadgui – ©2024 BFM Bourse
