CAC40: back on 7,500, barrel decline after Milton

(CercleFinance.com) - With the help of Wall Street, the CAC40 slightly trimmed its losses from -1% to -0.
7% and rallied above 7,525Pts, in the wake of luxury stocks (no 3rd package of 'support measures' but announcement of protectionist measures).
Volumes remain modest, barely above E1.5bn, but European markets are resisting the deterioration in bond markets.

This deterioration continues today, with the US 10-year at 4.043% (+1.4pts), OATs tightening +1pt to 3.031% (compared with 3.008% for Spanish bonds) and Bunds +0.5pt to 2.255%.

Wall Street resisted with gains of +0.78% on the S&P500 and +0.12% on the Nasdaq (with Palo-Alto at +3.5%, Nvidia +2.5%), while the Dow Jones settled at +0.1%.

Last weekend's 'Goldilocks' (robust growth against a backdrop of falling inflation and rates) are losing their relevance: 'Treasuries continued to tighten across the curve at the start of the week, with both 2-year and 10-year yields rising above 4% for the first time since August', points out Michael Brown at Pepperstone.

According to this strategist, the continued reassessment of monetary policy expectations in a less accommodative direction, following Friday's employment figures, was the main reason for the continued selling pressure on US bonds.

'Crude oil, of course, continues to reflect a significant geopolitical risk premium due to tensions in the Middle East, with Brent crude breaking the $80/barrel barrier for the first time since August', he also points out.
Hurricane Milton's passage over Florida and along the US Gulf of Mexico coast is proving less catastrophic than expected: the shutdown of oil production will not last as long as feared, and the barrel has lost all of its gains since Friday, down 4.6% to $77.5 in London.

On the statistics front, operators took note of the French trade balance this morning, before the US trade balance in the early afternoon.

In August 2024, France's trade balance deteriorated significantly, according to CVS-CJO data from the French customs administration, with a deficit of 7.37 billion euros after 6.04 billion the previous month.
The euro is treading water at $1.097, and the dollar index is stagnating at 102.38: nothing very remarkable, despite the tense geopolitical context.

In other stock news, Vinci has announced the acquisition of RH Marine and Bakker Sliedrecht, two companies specializing in the maritime sector, enabling it to enhance its offering in industrial services and strengthen its presence in the Netherlands.

Argan has announced the sale of its Wissous (Essonne) data center to Invesco Real Estate for a surface area of over 22,000 m2, for a price of 59 million euros excluding transfer duties, a transaction which completes its arbitration program for 2024.

As part of its joint takeover bid with Rubis for the Italian Unieuro group, Fnac Darty announces that it has lowered the minimum threshold requirement from 90% to 66.67% of the capital, reflecting their desire to successfully implement this takeover bid.

TotalEnergies announces that it has signed a renewable electricity sales contract (PPA) with Saint-Gobain, providing for the continuous supply of electricity to power the building materials group's industrial sites in France.

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