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Paris (AFP) – The Paris Bourse fell on Friday pending US employment, the last economic indicator of the week, essential according to analysts to anticipate the monetary policy of the powerful American central bank.
The star CAC 40 index fell 0.30% around 10:15 a.m., losing 20.29 points to 6,728.86 points. the day before, the Paris Stock Exchange finished up slightly by 0.23%, gaining 15.42 points to 6,753.97 points.
For the day’s session, the markets will be attentive to the monthly report on employment in the United States, scheduled for 1:30 p.m. GMT (2:30 p.m. in Paris).
The unemployment rate in the United States is expected to be stable, at 3.7%, with however fewer job creations than in October, at 200,000 against 261,000.
These figures should show how the world’s largest economy is doing in the face of rising interest rates and high inflation and “should give us a little more information on the real monetary intentions of the US Federal Reserve” , according to John Plassard of investment specialist for Mirabaud.
The Fed relies in part on the strength of employment to calibrate its monetary policy. A tight labor market in a context of sharply rising prices gives it arguments to tighten its monetary policy in order to bring inflation back under control.
On Wednesday, Jerome Powell, the president of the American central bank signaled a slowdown in monetary tightening from the next monetary meeting in mid-December, confirming the scenario of a rate hike of 50 basis points (half a point of percentage), compared to 75 basis points in the four previous hikes.
In this context, if the employment figures are “above analysts’ expectations, this should stimulate risk appetite in the markets, but if they are too high”, the Fed will be tempted to resume a tougher talk on rate hikes, “which would drive markets lower for the final close of the week,” according to Swissquote’s Ipek Ozkardeskaya.
Sanofi drops
The French laboratory, Sanofi lost 2.26% to 85.47 around 10:20 a.m., after announcing that “any offer made to Horizon Therapeutics plc, if made by Sanofi, will be made only in cash”, according to a press release on Friday, specifying however that there is “no certainty as to the actual delivery of an offer, nor as to the terms of such an offer”.
Horizon Therapeutics, an Irish biotech with a market capitalization of more than 22 billion euros, announced on Tuesday that it was in discussions with Amgen, Johnson & Johnson and Sanofi for a possible sale.
Saint-Gobain offloads
The French building materials group Saint-Gobain (+0.52% to 45.23 euros) announced on Thursday that it had finalized the sale of its “Crystals and Detectors” activity to a consortium led by two American funds specializing in construction materials. high technology.
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