"Latest Updates on the Paris Stock Exchange and Inflation Figures in the Euro Zone"

2023-04-19 09:00:01

The Paris Stock Exchange was treading water Wednesday morning, investors having to digest a host of corporate results while waiting for inflation figures in the euro zone.

The flagship CAC index was at equilibrium (-0.04% to 7,530.61 points) around 10:27 a.m. the day after a new record in session and closing, made possible thanks to the resumption of activity in China.

Wall Street ended flat on Tuesday.

“The US earnings season is slowly starting to show its second facet,” said independent analyst Andreas Lipkow.

“While the first quarterly figures from US banks have been interpreted positively, the increased expectations for the sector are starting to be difficult to meet,” he said.

Same thing, according to him, in the technology sector where “the first reaction of prices to the quarterly figures was strongly tinged with negative because the prospects, in particular, displeased many investors”.

At the same time, investors are trying to anticipate the next actions of the major central banks in their fight against inflation and to gauge the risk of recession.

Rising prices, which central banks have been tackling for more than a year, remain a concern in food and services, even as headline inflation is decelerating in the United States and the eurozone .

Inflation slowed slightly year on year in March in the United Kingdom, to 10.1% against 10.4% in February, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) announced on Wednesday, but the drop is smaller than expected.

The European Central Bank appears to have some way to go in its tightening cycle as the Fed, which is expected to hike rates by 25 basis points one last time in May, approaches its terminal rate, experts say .

The chief economist of the European Central Bank, Philip Lane, pleaded on Bloomberg TV on Tuesday evening for another interest rate hike in May without determining the extent.

Fed officials seem divided on the future trajectory of rates: the chairman of the Atlanta branch of the Federal Reserve (Fed), Raphael Bostic is in favor of one last hike in the key rate in May before letting it plateau above 5% and his counterpart in St. Louis, James Bullard said that the Fed could raise rates further to bring them within a range of 5.5 to 5.75%.

In Paris, the two companies Crédit Agricole and Worldline announced on Wednesday a “long-term strategic partnership” providing for the creation of a joint venture in 2025. The Crédit Agricole title took 0.39 to 10.92 euros and the Worldline share rose from 5.61% to 41.40 euros.

The tailor-made travel specialist Voyageurs du Monde rose 5.58% to 123 euros, after the announcement of a rebound in activity in 2022, allowing it to exceed its pre-Covid performance and show optimism for the current fiscal year.