Passed the fears of the day before concerning the visit of Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi to Taiwanthe Paris Stock Exchange recovered, driven by a cocktail of three elements, the rise in Wall Street, the rebound in oil and overall well-received corporate results. In closing, the Cac 40 gained 0.97%, to 6,472.06 points, in a trading volume a little more sustained than the previous days of 3.1 billion euros.
On Wall Street, the Dow Jones gained 1% and the Nasdaq Composite almost 2%. It’s a time of relief after the end of Nancy Pelosi’s trip to Taiwan (she is continuing her Asian “tour” in South Korea, before going to Japan Saturday) even if it unleashed, as one could expect, the anger of Beijing. The Chine responded by announcing military exercises including missile launches until August 7 and urged airlines to avoid areas around Taiwan. Measures comparable to those which could have been decreed after Republican and Democratic American senators visited the island this year. She also announced the cessation of exports of natural sand to Taiwan, a key component in the manufacture of semiconductors, while an embargo on imports of many food products was decided.
Surprise rise in the services ISM
Across the Atlantic, the main statistic of the day, that of the ISM services for the month of July, was well received. The index recorded a surprise acceleration to 56.7 points, after 55.3 in June and compared to the 53.5 points expected by the consensus. The new orders component is notably improving strongly. Figures that go in the direction of the declarations of James Bullard, this Wednesday, on CNBC. The president of the Fed of St. Louis estimated that the UNITED STATES were not in a recession, which leaves room for the Fed to raise rates further with a view to bringing inflation back towards the 2% target.
Second favorable element, oil. Delegates from OPEC+ (which includes cartel members and other oil-producing nations, including the Russia) have agreed on an increase of 100,000 barrels per day in their production from September. This increase marks a marked slowdown compared to the increase of 648,000 barrels per day decided for the months of July and August. The reaction was immediate, the barrel of Brent North Sea price back above $101 before losing that lead at the European close ($98.72). TotalEnergiesheavyweight of the Cac 40, took the opportunity to gain up to 3% in the afternoon.
Axa brilliantly passes the half-yearly test
Finally, the results publications of the day were well received. Axa in particular jumped by more than 5%, after having published operating earnings per share up 11% in the first half, the impact of the war in Ukraine being, as expected, relatively small. The insurer is thus ahead of its confirmed objective of an average annual increase of 3 to 7% of this level of profit over three years (2021-2023).
Societe Generale gained 3.1%. The bank reported a lower than expected loss in the second quarterthe dynamism of its activities both in retail banking and on the markets having offset the impact of the sale of its Russian subsidiary Rosbank.
Only Veolia Environment lost some ground, closing -2.8%.
Excluding the flagship index, Bic climbed almost 5% after having raised its annual revenue growth targetin a range of 10% to 12% at constant exchange rates, while it was hitherto aiming for the top of an increase of 7% to 9%.