CAC40: session ends in red as Wall Street hesitates

(CercleFinance.com) - After spending the morning in positive territory, the CAC40 stalled in the second half of the session.
At the final gong, the Paris index was down 0.5% at 7,371 points, penalized by STMicro (-3%), Schneider Electric (-2.3%) and Thales (-2%).

The mood was equally gloomy on the other side of the Atlantic, with the Dow Jones down 0.4%, the S&P500 balanced and the Nasdaq barely scraping by 0.1%.

The markets are holding their breath on the eve of the US election: there is still total uncertainty as to the identity of the future tenant of the White House. Added to this uncertainty are fears of possible large-scale unrest should Trump's supporters launch a general - and not necessarily peaceful - protest against the results.

Tensions also remain at their highest in the Middle East, where Israel is continuing its bombing campaign in southern Lebanon, while Teheran has hinted at a possible retaliation against the Hebrew state.

Finally, the Bank of England and the Federal Reserve are due to announce their respective monetary policy decisions on Thursday, with a 25 basis point rate cut widely expected from the US central bank.

Meanwhile, investors this morning took note of several statistics, such as the HCOB PMI index for eurozone manufacturing. The index rose from 45 in September to 46 in October, indicating a slowdown in the sector's contraction, at its slowest pace since last May.

However, the index still remains below 50, signalling a deterioration in economic conditions for the 28th consecutive month in October, with the current contraction phase being the longest observed since the survey began in 1997.

In addition, following a 0.8% decline in August compared with the previous month (revised from the initial estimate of -0.2%), US industrial orders contracted by a further 0.5% in September, according to the Commerce Department.

US industrial shipments fell by 0.4% in September compared with the previous month. With inventories down 0.2%, the inventory-to-delivery ratio remained unchanged at 1.46 month-on-month.

In France, the PMI HCOB buyers' index for the French manufacturing industry, produced by S&P Global, stood at 44.5 in October, relatively stable compared with September (44.6), but continuing to signal a sharp deterioration in the sector's economic situation.

On the bond front, the 10-year yield on US T-Bonds eased by -8.5pts to 4.278%. In Europe, Bunds and OATs of the same maturity eased by -2.5Pts and -3.5Pts respectively, to 2.38% and 3.125%.

Finally, Brent crude oil rose by nearly 2.3% in London, to $74.6 a barrel, while the euro appreciated by 0.5% against the greenback, to $1.088/E.

In other French company news, Schneider Electric's Board of Directors appointed Olivier Blum as Chief Executive Officer, effective immediately, after terminating Peter Herweck's appointment due to disagreements over the implementation of his roadmap.

TotalEnergies announces the signature of a sales agreement (HoA) with Sinopec, for the delivery of 2 million tons of LNG per year, for 15 years, starting in 2028.

Engie announces that it has won a 100 MW installed capacity Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) project from electricity grid operator Elia, at the fourth Capacity Remuneration Mechanism (CRM) auction in Belgium.

Finally, Airbus Helicopters signed a landmark contract with SkyAlyne, a joint venture between Canadian defense leaders CAE and KF Aerospace, to supply the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) with 19 Airbus H135 helicopters.

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