CAC40: attempts a rebound despite tensions in the Middle East

(CercleFinance.com) - After losing 0.
8% yesterday, the Paris stock market is up nearly 0.5% this morning, around 7,620 points, driven by TotalEnergies (+3.5%), Thales (+2.8%) and L'Oréal (+1.7%).

The news is marked by geopolitical tensions in the Middle East, with Teheran firing nearly 200 missiles at Israel last night, including hypersonic ballistic missiles.

Following this attack, Israel and its American ally immediately threatened to retaliate. We don't know much yet", James Reilly, economist at Capital Economics, reacted this morning.

"The big unknown is the scale of the offensive and the damage it will cause, particularly to civilian populations", continued the analyst.

"A major escalation on the part of Iran would risk dragging the United States into war, which Teheran would prefer to avoid", James Reilly reminded us.

In Asia, the Nikkei index on the Tokyo Stock Exchange fell by 2.5% at the end of the session in the face of the increasingly real risk of a conflagration in the Middle East.

The stock markets are also awaiting the employment figures due on Friday, which will once again be closely watched.

Recent statements by Fed Chairman Jerome Powell have suggested that the Fed is in no hurry to cut rates quickly, and that its decisions will be made on the basis of economic data.

If the employment figures are worse than expected, stock markets could use this catalyst to continue their upward momentum.

In the US, the economic release of the day will be the ADP monthly private employment survey for September, the results of which are due at 2.15 p.m.

On the oil front, Brent crude climbed 0.8% to $75 a barrel in response to renewed tensions in the Middle East.

On the bond market, US Treasuries played their role of safe haven, with 10-year paper falling to 3.75%.

On the foreign exchange market, the euro gained 0.1% against the greenback, at $1.108/E.

In French company news, EssilorLuxottica announced that it had finalized its previously announced acquisitions of the Supreme brand and an 80% stake in Heidelberg Engineering, both transactions having received the green light from the relevant competition authorities.

Thales announced on Wednesday that it had presented its latest innovations in the autonomization of drones in support of naval operations at a military exercise in Portugal.

Lagardère News announced the launch of two new editions of ELLE, in Uzbekistan and Malaysia, bringing the number of editions worldwide to 50, all represented by its exclusive international agency Lagardere Global Advertising.

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