The Paris Stock Exchange does not know on which foot to dance with US inflation
The Paris Stock Exchange ended down 1.01% on Thursday, following another volatile session, focused on the interpretation of inflation figures in the United States.
The star CAC 40 index lost 63.47 points to 6,206.26 points, the day following a jump of 2.50%.
The Parisian rating fell by more than 2% during most of the session, before regaining strength in the last two hours of trading.
In a once once more “nervous” session, “the market tensions played out around the inflation figures in the United States, which are difficult to interpret”, according to Daniel Larrouturou, equity manager at Dôm Finance.
For consumer prices, the CPI index on Wednesday, as for producer prices, PPI, on Thursday, the trend is the same: the increase slowed over a year between March and April, but the pace proved higher than analysts’ forecasts.
“It’s the glass half empty or half full”, sums up the manager.
Inflation has returned to the center of market concerns because its rate has consequences for finance as well as for consumption.
For finance, the rate of inflation determines the strength of the response of central banks, whose mission is to control rising prices. The tightening of the screw initiated by the American Federal Reserve, with in particular the raising of its key rates, aims to lower the price thermometer, but at the risk of depressing economic activity.
The rise in prices also has an impact on consumption with its repercussions on the purchasing power of households.
Inflation fears drove investors into the bond market, which offered some respite on rates. The French rate on the 10-year loan fell to 1.35%, far from 1.60% at the start of the week.
STMicroelectronics applauded
The Franco-Italian manufacturer of electronic components (+ 3.97% to 35.74 euros) is aiming for an annual turnover of 20 billion dollars “and beyond” for the period 2025-2027, a very marked increase by compared to its current sales.
On the CAC 40 index, it was only upstaged by Alstom (+4.85% to 22.91 euros), which had experienced a very turbulent session on Wednesday following the publication of its results due to questions regarding its cash levels.
Renault suffers with Nissan
Nissan announced a full-year profit but significantly below analysts’ expectations on Thursday, which put pressure on its partner Renault. The French manufacturer lost more than 7.5% in session, finally falling 2.27% to 22.43 euros.
Bouygues’ results poorly received
The Bouygues share lost 0.96% to 30.93 euros while the French construction giant published a sharp decline in net income in the first quarter of 2022, due in particular to the resale of Alstom shares. The first quarter is “a little less dynamic than the peers”, underlines a note from Oddo BHF.