CAC40: back in positive territory, Dow-J and S&P records despite rates

(CercleFinance.com) - The Paris Bourse has been searching for a trend for a long time, and it's Wall Street which is providing the positive impetus investors were hoping for.

The CAC40 is up +0.6% (towards 7,585)... and this gain will in fact correspond to the weekly gain (the CAC40 was at equilibrium the previous day).
Wall Street concludes the week with a new string of absolute records, with the S&P500 (+0.4%) at 5,815 and the Dow Jones at 42,770, while the Nasdaq grabs just 0.3%, slowed by Tesla's -8% (below $220), the day after the presentation of 'Robotaxi' and its android 'Optimus' (and the humorists will add 'Prime'.... but that's no laughing matter for shareholders).

JPMorgan Chase's results were also very well received, climbing +3.5%, while Wells Fargo's results soared +6%.

"I remain optimistic, as I have been for most of the year", says Michael Brown, senior research strategist at Pepperstone, while conceding that "the start of the third-quarter earnings season this Friday presents a risk".

With consensus EPS figures lowered by around 4% last quarter, companies have room to surprise positively", points out the strategist, who therefore expects a fifth consecutive quarter of overall profit growth.

On the macroeconomic front, U.S. consumer confidence worsened slightly, according to the index calculated by the University of Michigan (UMich), which stands at a preliminary estimate of 68.9 for the current month, compared with 70.1 for September.

This drop - where economists were expecting a slight rise - reflects declines in both the current assessment component (-0.6 points to 62.7) and the expectations component (-1.5 points to 72.9).l
The Labor Department reports that US producer prices stagnated in September compared with the previous month, and rose by 0.1% on a core basis (excluding food, energy and commercial services).

But expressed as an annual variation, while the rise in 'gross' US producer prices remained stable as forecast at 1.8% in August, it accelerated from +2.8% to 3.2% excluding food, energy and commercial services, propelling US yields to new highs since the end of July, with the '10 yr' at 4.10/4.11% and the '30 yr' at 4.40%.... only the '2 yr' improved to 3.950% from 4.000% on Thursday.
In Europe, the Bund rose by +3.6pts to 2.2900%, our OATs by +3.5pts to 3.0610%, Italian BTPs by +4pts to 3.578%.

The status quo is complete on the currency front, with the euro unchanged against the dollar at 1.0940 and gold rallying sharply towards $2,652, as the inflation outlook remains worrying in the United States.


Germany's inflation rate, measured by the annual change in the consumer price index (CPI), stood at +1.6% in September 2024, according to Destatis, which thus confirms its preliminary estimate.

Down 0.3 points on its August level, the annual inflation rate thus confirms falling back below the 2% mark, reaching its lowest level since February 2021, when it stood at 1.5%.

In particular, further declines in energy prices have slowed inflation more significantly than in previous months", points out Destatis, which nevertheless notes that price rises in services are still above average. the UMich consumer confidence index in the USA.

In Paris stock news, Sanofi announces that it has entered into negotiations with CD&R for the potential sale of a 50% controlling stake in Opella, its consumer healthcare business, which employs over 11.000 people and operates in 100 countries.

Stellantis reports targeted organizational changes effective immediately within its management team, led by Carlos Tavares who will retire at the end of his CEO mandate in early 2026.

Euroapi reports that it has finalized and secured financing for its FOCUS-27 strategic plan, and signed with Sanofi a new amendment to the global manufacturing and supply contract signed in 2021.

Edenred announces that its greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reduction targets have been approved by the Science Based Targets (SBTi) initiative, placing the Group on a trajectory in line with the climate objective set by the Paris Agreement.

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