CAC40: little movement ahead of a busy weekend

(CercleFinance.com) - The Paris Bourse climbed 0.
1% to around 7,435 pts, torn between gains by Bureau Veritas (+3.6%) and Société Générale (+1.7%) and a downturn in the luxury goods sector (-1% for LVMH, -0.8% for Hermès).

This morning, investors took note of inflation data for France. Over one year, consumer prices in France rose by 1.3% in December 2024, a stable annual rate compared with November, in line with the provisional estimate published last week by Insee.

The markets are anticipating a hectic second half of the week, with a flurry of earnings releases and an intense macroeconomic agenda.

As a reminder, global equity markets have been moving without a clear direction since the start of the year, held back by uncertainties surrounding the evolution of the Fed's monetary policy and the agenda that Donald Trump, the next US president, plans to adopt on trade issues.

Yesterday, however, traders did not seem reassured by reports that the New York businessman's teams were preparing a plan for a "gradual" increase in tariffs.

The session that is about to begin could give them a chance to put their ideas back into place, thanks in particular to the 4th-quarter results of the major US banks Citi, JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs and Wells Fargo, expected at lunchtime.

These releases will give investors a clearer picture of the current state of the US economy, the strength of consumer spending and the country's economic outlook.

The markets are also awaiting a series of inflation indicators, culminating in consumer price figures for the month of December, due at 2:30 p.m.

Investors will be keeping a close eye on these statistics, which may well determine the course of the Federal Reserve's monetary policy over the coming months.

Benchmark bond yields, which have been closely watched of late, are showing contrasting trends, with the US ten-year falling towards 4.76%, while its German equivalent is easing towards 2.60%.

French OAT yields eased to 3.44% after François Bayrou's general policy speech failed to raise an outcry from the opposition, raising hopes that his government could escape censure.

As a result, the France/Germany spread narrowed to around 84 points.

In the spotlight for the past week, the yield on ten-year British Gilts has risen by a further 0.6 points to 4.96%, but has managed to remain below the symbolic 5% mark.

In London, Brent crude oil has lost 0.7% to trade at around $79.8 a barrel.
In the news from French companies, Esker claims the best year in its history, with sales for the full year 2024 of 205.3 million euros, up 15% at constant exchange rates and on a reported basis.

Under the framework agreement signed with TenneT in May 2023, and following the first contracts announced in March 2024 for the BalWin3 and LanWin4 links, Nexans reports that it has won the contract for the LanWin2 project, worth one billion euros.

Voltalia announces the start of construction of the Los Venados solar project, with a total capacity of 19.7 megawatts, in the Tolima region. The Group's first project in Colombia, it is scheduled for commissioning in the first quarter of 2026.

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