The control room of Euronext, the company that manages the Paris Stock Exchange, in La Défense (AFP / ERIC PIERMONT)
The Paris Stock Exchange, which had opened sharply higher the day following the Fed meeting, finally concluded its session down on Thursday, caught up by the American markets and the general economic context.
The star CAC 40 index lost 27.28 points to 6,368.40 points. The day before, it had fallen by 1.24%.
The Paris Stock Exchange had however started the day with a gain of 2.40% to 6,549.49 points, its highest for the session. The index fell little by little and stalled following the opening of the American markets.
“Investors were reassured yesterday regarding the pace” of the increase in the US Federal Reserve’s key rate, said Pierre Blanchet, head of economic intelligence at the Amundi Institute, to AFP.
Bank chairman Jerome Powell rejected any 0.75 percentage point rate hike, a prospect that had scared markets for days.
The Fed opted for a half-percentage-point hike at this meeting and is expected to maintain that trend for at least next month.
This information had carried Wall Street on Wednesday then the European stock market. But US markets went the other way on Thursday, losing more than 3% shortly following the Paris close.
“The general trend is not very good” between the confinements in China and the war in Ukraine, recalls Mr. Blanchet.
The sharp rise in inflation, which might even exceed 10% in the United Kingdom according to the Bank of England, is also changing the configuration of the market, putting more difficulty in technology stocks, which prefer a low rate environment, explains does it too.
Sovereign rates, which set the trend for those of the rest of the economy, continued their sharp rise: the French 10-year rate reached 1.57%, while the American rate soared above 3%, to 3 .08%.
Finally, the euro also fell by more than 1% once morest the dollar (-1.04% to 1.0512 dollars around 6:45 p.m.), which benefits from its status as a safe haven and the monetary tightening of the Fed.
Airbus takes off
Airbus shares rose 6.28% to 109.02 euros following the European aircraft manufacturer more than tripled its quarterly profit over one year to 1.22 billion euros. Airbus has also displayed great ambitions by aiming for a monthly production of 75 A320s in 2025, unheard of for its star single-aisle aircraft.
The airline Air France-KLM, which divided its loss in the first quarter by three and said it was optimistic for the summer, also took 2.05% to 3.99 euros.
Crédit Agricole and Société Générale tossed around
The Crédit Agricole bank fell 4.01% to 9.98 euros following reporting a net profit down 24.1% in the first quarter.
Societe Generale fell 2.56% to 22.43 euros following the announcement of a net profit up slightly in the first quarter. Its action had suffered heavily following the outbreak of war in Ukraine by Russia, where the bank officiates but from which it will disengage.
For its part, BNP Paribas lost 0.61% to 50.70 euros.
Euronext CAC40
