The Paris Stock Exchange rose 0.69% on Thursday, after the publication of higher than expected inflation in the euro zone in February, which is pushing the bond market to revise its expectations for rate changes.
The star CAC 40 index gained 49.97 points to 7,284.22 points. The day before, the Parisian rating had ended down 0.46%, fearing rate hikes.
The inflation rate in the euro zone fell in February for the fourth month in a row, to 8.5% over one year, after 8.6% in January, according to Eurostat. But the decline is less than expected since analysts expected a rate of between 8.2% and 8.3%.
Inflation had peaked in October, at 10.6% year-on-year, after a year and a half of uninterrupted rise, accelerated by the war in Ukraine.
“Underlying inflation has not started to stabilize in Europe, there is still some way to go in terms of monetary policy to deal with inflation”, warns Raphaël Thuin, director of market strategies of capital from Tikehau Capital.
The President of the European Central Bank (ECB) Christine Lagarde also said Thursday that the increases in key rates could continue beyond that already almost recorded by the institution in March.
The extent of these increases is the subject of all market speculation.
On the stock side, semiconductor producers suffered from Tesla’s comments during the manufacturer’s investor day. An engine development manager said Elon Musk’s company had internally developed a transistor architecture that required less silicon and “developed (its) own microprocessor”.
STMicroelectronics fell 3.24% to 44.23 euros.
The textile group SMCP (Sandro, Maje, Claudie Pierlot and Fursac) doubled its net profit in 2022, driven by dynamic sales in Europe and North America, while China remained affected by the health crisis. The title took 7.42% to 8.32 euros.