CAC40: W-Street limits decline, $ above 1.03E

(CercleFinance.com) - (CercleFinance.
com) - The CAC40 (-0.1%) is in the process of erasing all its losses, while the Euro-Stoxx50 is gaining +0.1% on the back of a resolutely positive start to the year on Wall Street, with US indices up +0.8% on average around 4pm... before reducing their lead over the last half-hour.

The CAC40, which had begun 2025 on a heavy note (the CAC fell by as much as -1%), seemed to be following in the footsteps of the end of 2024: at 3pm, the CAC was still down -0.7%, prolonging the Paris market's heavy underperformance compared to other major Western markets.

Over 2024 as a whole, the Parisian flagship index fell by just over 2.1%, against the trend of London's FTSE (+5.7%), and far behind Frankfurt's DAX (+18.8%), as well as the S&P500 (+23.3%) and the Nasdaq (+28.6%)... US equities gained 25% on average, for a second year with a gain of over 20%, a first since 1998.

While Wall Street benefited fully from the AI craze and the hopes raised by Donald Trump's victory, Paris suffered from a more difficult context, notably due to political uncertainties since the dissolution of the French National Assembly.
Contrary to the scenario observed this morning in China (indexes down -2% on average after disappointing PMIs), the S&P500 (+0.3%) and Nasdaq-100 (+0.4%) augur an encouraging start to 2025.
However, Wall Street was slightly disappointed by the release of the US manufacturing PMI, which fell to 49.4 last month from 49.7 in November, and thus dipped slightly below the 50 threshold which marks the boundary between expansion and contraction in the sector's activity.

S&P Global, which calculates the PMI, also points to a sharper reduction in production and an acceleration in the rise in input costs.
The Labor Department reports that 211,000 new U.S. jobless claims were registered in the week ending December 23, down 9,000 on the previous week.

The four-week moving average - more representative of the underlying trend - came in at 223,250, down 3,500 on the previous week.

Finally, the number of people receiving regular benefits fell by 52,000 to 1,844,000 in the week to December 16, the most recent period available for this statistic.

In Europe, operators were also disappointed by the December manufacturing PMI indices for France and the eurozone this morning.
The HCOB PMI index for French manufacturing, produced by S&P Global, fell from 43.1 in November to 41.9 last month: this was the sharpest deterioration in manufacturing conditions since May 2020.

The HCOB PMI index for the eurozone manufacturing industry, meanwhile, fell slightly from 45.2 in November to 45.1 in December, illustrating a steady deterioration in the sector's economic situation over the past two and a half years.
Bond markets are off to a slow start to 2025, with T-Bonds virtually unchanged until around 4 p.m., and now down -3pts to 4.548%.
Little movement in Europe, with Bunds down -1.3pts to 2.352% and OATs stagnating at around 3.200% (i.e. +84pts spread), Italian BTPs easing -1.2pts to 3.508%.

Note the further rise in the $-Index to 109 (for the 1st time since November 9, 2022), while the Euro is down -0.55% to $1.0295, for a new low since November 22, 2022.

In other stock news, Wavestone announced the launch of a share buyback campaign for a maximum amount of 10 million euros, which will run until March 31 at the latest.

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