CAC40: heavyweight but limits the damage, thanks to Nasdaq at Zenith

(CercleFinance.com) - The Paris Bourse materialized a gap of nearly -60pts between 7,511 and 7,452 at the opening.

The CAC40 even accentuated its decline to -1.6% before recovering to -1.2% (around 7420), while the Euro-Stoxx50 dropped -1.3%.

What a contrast with Wall Street, which reopened slightly higher, with the Nasdaq setting a new all-time record at 18,760, despite AMD's -10% fall (after its quarterly results) and Super Micro Computer's -27%, not to mention ASML and Qualcomm's -3%.
But this was offset by the rise of 2 titans: Google +6% and Amazon +1.5% (and tonight, it will be the turn of the 2 'M's, Meta and Microsoft).

The session was also marked by the release of numerous statistics, particularly concerning US economic growth.

US GDP (gross domestic product) grew at an annualized rate of 2.8% in the third quarter of 2024, according to the Commerce Department's very first estimate, a slight slowdown on the 3% figure for the second quarter.
This is also the eighth quarter out of the last nine in which growth has exceeded 2%.

This growth was mainly due to an increase in consumer spending (thanks to a surge in credit card outstandings), exports and federal public spending, while imports, which are a subtraction in the calculation of GDP, rose.

In addition, the PCE price inflation index was estimated at +1.5% unadjusted and +2.2% excluding food and energy, significantly down on the previous quarter's levels of +2.5% and +2.8% respectively.

Another eagerly-awaited figure: the US private sector created 233,000 jobs in October (after 159,000 in September), its highest level since July 2023 and more than twice as many as expected (115,000), according to the monthly survey by business services firm ADP.
This is the strongest month-on-month acceleration since July 2023.

'Even taking into account the post-hurricane recovery context, job growth was strong in October. As the year draws to a close, hiring in the U.S. is proving robust and resilient overall", commented Nela Richardson, Chief Economist at ADP.
T-Bonds nevertheless eased -3.5pts to 4.243%, the '30 yr' -5pts to 4.468%.

Also eagerly awaited, Germany's inflation rate (or CPI) rose by +2% compared with October 2023, versus 1.6% the previous month, according to Destatis' preliminary estimate.

Consumer prices are said to have risen by 0.4% sequentially over the month to September 2024. The 'core' inflation rate excluding food and energy, often referred to as underlying inflation, is said to have stood at 2.9% annualized in October, after 2.7% in September.

Announced this morning, French GDP growth in volume terms accelerated moderately in the third quarter of 2024, according to Insee: it rose by 0.4%, after +0.2% in the second quarter, boosted by the Paris Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Among the many other data expected in the morning were the first GDP estimates for Germany and the Eurozone, as well as the European Commission's ESI economic sentiment indices.

In Q3 2024, GDP rose by 0.4% in the Eurozone and by 0.3% in the EU (thanks to France and Italy), compared with the previous quarter, according to Eurostat's preliminary flash estimate, following increases of 0.2% and 0.3% respectively in Q2.

European bond markets are having a hard time digesting this avalanche of 'stats', and are moving in the opposite direction to T-Bonds, with yields under general pressure: +3Pts to +3.5Pts on Bunds and OATs at 2.364% and 3.11% respectively, followed by +3.2Pts on Bonos at 3.062% and +5.3Pts on Italian BTPs at 4.612%.

The euro is benefiting from the yield differential in its favor, gaining +0.35% against the dollar at 1.08550... the greenback remaining stable against the yen and the Swiss franc.
Brent crude oil rebounds +1% from its low of $71.2 and rises to $72 in London.

In Paris, too, the quarterly publication season is in full swing: Schneider Electric, Capgemini, bioMérieux and M6 have just released their nine-month sales figures, following those of Saint-Gobain and Eutelsat the previous evening.

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