CAC40: at equilibrium, erases almost all gains

(CercleFinance.com) - After gaining as much as 1% in the morning, the Paris Bourse erased almost all its gains over the last two hours of trading.


At the final bell, the Paris index had to be content with an anecdotal gain of... 0.08% to 7503 points, penalized in particular by the collapse of Edenred (-14.6%), Michelin (-8.2%) and Dassault Systèmes (-2.3%).

Across the Atlantic, Wall Street reduced its lead, with the S&P500 up +0.1% and the Nasdaq up +0.5%, which in reality owes almost everything to Tesla's +18% rise, while the Dow Jones fell by more than 0.3%... in other words, it was a trendless day, after a sharp decline the previous day.

On the statistics front, the HCOB composite PMI flash index of overall activity in the eurozone came in at 49.7 in October, very close to the level recorded in September (49.6), suggesting a very slight decline in the region's overall activity for a second consecutive month.

In France, the PMI flash composite HCOB index of overall activity came in at 47.3 this month, down from 48.6 in September, settling below the unchanged 50 mark for a second consecutive month in October.

In the US, it's also 'PMI day': growth in the US private sector accelerated slightly this month, according to S&P Global's 'composite PMI', which came in at 54.3 in flash estimate for October, after 54 for the previous month.

The October PMI level thus reflects a robust expansion in private sector activity, driven however solely by services, while manufacturing output contracted for a 3rd consecutive month.

The first PMI estimate for October should be a harsh reminder of the sad economic reality: the US is outperforming the rest of the world, while the eurozone is in the throes of a slow economic stall", commented Christopher Dembik, analyst at Pictet AM, this morning.

US real estate figures remain mixed: resales of older homes fell by -1% in September, but new home sales recovered by +4.1% ( 738,000 annualized) after falling by 2.3% in August.

The Commerce Department reports that the median price of new homes sold was $426,300, and the average price was $501,000 (an all-time record). The inventory of new homes ready for sale stands at 470,000, representing a 7.6-month supply at the current rate.

In addition, the Labor Department announced that new jobless claims in the United States fell by 15,000 to 227,000 in the week to October 14.

Claims for unemployment benefits had risen recently due to the hurricanes ('Milton') and the strike at Boeing, which is disrupting its suppliers and subcontractors", noted Oddo BHF.

Finally, we note that the business climate in France fell in October, according to the synthetic indicator calculated by Insee, which dropped one point to 97. This is the result of a significant drop in sentiment in industry, not quite offset by an improvement in services.

There is a slight improvement in bond yields, with the Bunds down 7.5pts to 2.245% and our OATs to 2.977%, while the T-Bonds are more modest, with the 30-year down 4pts to 4.475% and the 2034 down 4.8pts to 4.187%.

The euro rebounded against the dollar, gaining 0.1% to $1.08/E, while gold eased to $2,733 and silver stalled at $34/Oz.
Finally, oil consolidates by -0.7% to $74.6 in London.

In French company news, Hermès reports consolidated sales of 11.2 billion euros to the end of September 2024, up 13.8% at constant exchange rates and 11.4% at current exchange rates compared with the same period in 2023.

Danone reports sales of €6.83 billion for the third quarter of 2024, down 1.2% on a reported basis, but up 4.2% on a like-for-like basis, with a strong volume/mix increase of +3.6% and a price effect of +0.7%.

Dassault Systèmes confirms its EPS target for 2024 at 1.27-1.30 euros, but lowers its total sales growth target from 6-8% to 5-7%, to reflect the wait-and-see attitude of customers and the contraction of the automotive market.


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