CAC40: banks up, luxury goods down

(CercleFinance.com) - The Paris stock market is hovering around its equilibrium point this morning, at around 8030 points, torn between the rise of banking stocks with BNP Paribas (+1.
7%), Société Générale (+1.3%) and Crédit Agricole (+1.2%) and the downturn in luxury goods with -2.3% for Kering, -2.1% for L'Oréal and -1.1% for Hermès.

The week ahead is likely to be marked by the meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC), whose verdict on rates is expected on Wednesday evening.

'The healthy state of the US economy means that the Fed will not rush to cut rates until political uncertainty is at least partially resolved', pointed out Paolo Zanghieri, senior economist at Generali Investments, last week.

We expect this to be the main message of the March meeting, and see little change from the FOMC's current stance, which calls for two more rate cuts this year and two more in 2026", he continued.

In addition to this flagship meeting, a host of data will be used to gauge the health of the US economy, including retail sales and the Empire State index this Monday, industrial production (Tuesday) and the Conference Board's leading indicators (Thursday).

In Europe, no statistics are due on Monday, but the next few days will see the release of the ZEW economic sentiment index in Germany, inflation in the UK and the eurozone, and the business climate index in France.

Also on this side of the Atlantic, the Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee is due to make its decision on Thursday. We expect a vote of seven to two in favor of keeping rates unchanged", Bank of America reported on Friday.

Investor attention should also continue to focus on developments in the ceasefire talks between Russia and Ukraine, as well as on trade tensions between the USA and its partners.

"The trade war between the USA, Canada, the EU and the UK is intensifying. Diplomats are working hard to avoid the 25% across-the-board tariffs that threaten Canada and the EU on April 1', points out Panmure Liberum.

We still expect there to be a last-minute reduction or postponement of these tariffs, but we need to be prepared in case April 1 turns out not to be April Fool's Day', continues the British institution.

On the bond front, 10-year US T-Bonds are moving towards 4.28% (-2 pts). The Bund with the same maturity is easing to 2.81% (-5pts) and the OAT is at 3.49% (-7pts), i.e. a spread of 68 bp.

In Paris stock news, LVMH has announced the departure of Jonathan Anderson, who had been Creative Director of Loewe, its Spanish brand of bags, clothing and accessories, since 2013.

Bureau Veritas announces the acquisition of GeoAssay, a company specializing in the mechanical preparation and analysis of mineral samples for copper, a mineral essential to the large-scale energy transition and of which Chile is the world's leading producer.


Copyright (c) 2025 CercleFinance.com. All rights reserved.