CAC 40: slight upturn while awaiting PMIs

(CercleFinance.com) - The Paris Bourse is set to open on a stable to slightly bullish note on Friday morning, with investors wary of taking too many risks ahead of the publication of the latest PMI surveys in the eurozone.


At around 8:15 a.m., the CAC 40 future contract (December maturity) was up 14 points at 7239.5 points, pointing to a small early-session advance in the wake of the timid 0.2% jump seen the previous day.

The early part of the session in Europe will be dominated by the preliminary results of the monthly purchasing managers' surveys (PMI) on economic activity in the Eurozone.

Analysts believe that these figures should confirm the sluggishness of the Old Continent's economy, a factor behind the recent fall in European stock markets relative to Wall Street.

Bruno Cavalier, Oddo BHF's chief economist, predicts: "Weak orders, political uncertainty, Donald Trump's tariff threats - there's nothing to suggest a rebound in industrial sentiment".

"Hope lies in the fact that services are holding up better", continues the professional.

Given the marked slowdown in Germany, these statistics could, however, raise hopes of more aggressive rate cuts by the ECB.

The day will also be marked by the afternoon publication of the US PMI, which should once again reveal a disparity between industry and services.

"The difference with Europe is that domestic demand is so robust that it more than compensates for the weakness in manufacturing activity", points out Bruno Cavalier.

Also due in the afternoon, the University of Michigan's Household Confidence Index - finalized ahead of the November 5 presidential election - should show that consumer sentiment remains solid.

Wall Street finished higher on Thursday, with the S&P 500 recording its fourth consecutive session of gains, despite the lukewarm reception given to AI giant Nvidia's quarterly results (+0.5%).

The Dow Jones gained 1.1%, the S&P 500 gained 0.7% and the Nasdaq Composite advanced 0.1%.

On the bond front, the yield on 10-year US government bonds climbed back above 4.43%, although this was not detrimental to the performance of US equity markets.

In Europe, the spread between French OATs and German Bunds widened further to 79 basis points.

The euro continued to fall against the dollar, to around 1.0465, and was thus down around 0.5% against the greenback for the week as a whole.

On the energy markets, oil prices were little changed, still torn between geopolitical uncertainties and questions about global growth.

US light crude (West Texas Intermediate, WTI) was virtually unchanged at $70.1 a barrel, while Brent was also stable at around $74.2.

For the week as a whole, the CAC 40 is currently headed for a decline of around 0.7%, while the Euro STOXX is currently down 0.8%.

Conversely, the Dow Jones is on course for a gain of almost 1% this week, while the Nasdaq has gained over 1.5% since Monday, confirming Wall Street's undisputed outperformance.

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