The praised quarterly publications of Danone, Teleperformance or L’Oréal carried the Paris Stock Exchange on Wednesday, which rebounded 1.38% the day after a session weighed down by fears about growth and inflation.
The flagship CAC 40 index took 90.12 points to 6,624.91 points, the day after a drop of 0.83%.
Like Danone and Teleperformance, at the top of the index with a jump of nearly 6%, the companies that published results satisfied investors.
“The low points of the CAC 40” of the last few weeks “already reflected drops in the forecasts of corporate results due to the coming monetary tightening and the war in Ukraine. However, the first quarter was only affected at the end by the war in Ukraine,” explained Alexandre Baradez, IG analyst, to journalists.
The results may therefore have come as a bit of a surprise, but “it is important to stay focused on +guidances+”, company forecasts for the coming months, during which geopolitical tensions and commodity prices will put them to the test, he points out.
In addition, the Parisian index, like its European counterparts, “evolves in the same level as for a month”, notes Craig Erlam, analyst of Oanda.
Equities are also benefiting from a slight calm in the bond market. The French 10-year rate fell to 1.34%, against 1.39% at the close on Tuesday, which is pushing investors to move towards riskier assets, but also more profitable.
Despite the day’s drop, the French 10-year rate remains at its highest since 2014, when it was barely above 0% at the start of the year.
The markets will also follow in the evening the debate of the second round of the presidential election between Emmanuel Macron and Marine Le Pen.
A tightening in the polls during the final days of the campaign would cause more nervousness among investors, who have so far watched the French election from afar.
Well-received results
Danone shares rose 5.76% to 55.66 euros after the publication of better-than-expected sales in the first quarter and annual targets maintained. “This is a positive start for the group’s new strategy,” detailed RBC Capital Markets in a note.
The French outsourced customer service giant Teleperformance was also hailed (+5.81% to 344.20 euros). Its revenue for the first quarter of the 2022 financial year increased by 6.5% like-for-like, driven in particular by the growing digitization of the economy.
L’Oreal also took 0.77% to 353.65 euros after reporting sales up 19% in the first quarter. The action had lost 2.90% on Tuesday, before the presentation of its results.
In addition, the semiconductor manufacturer STMicroelectronics (+3.17% to 35.69 euros), notably benefited from the publication of the results of the giant of its ASML sector.
Euronext CAC40