The CAC40 index is experiencing a modest decline of 0.5%, mirroring previous market trends amid ongoing rate pressures and declining U.S. indices. Wall Street saw a sharp drop, with the Dow Jones falling 0.8%. T-Bond yields increased, impacting the bond market. Notably, U.S. housing sales slowed due to rising rates. In Paris, companies like Air Liquide and Thales reported mixed quarterly results, while gold and silver prices reached new highs. The euro also weakened against the dollar.
The CAC40 index is down by 0.5%, mirroring yesterday’s trends with an initial drop followed by a slight recovery. The Paris Bourse and the Euro Stoxx 50, which is down 0.3%, show remarkable resilience in the face of ongoing interest rate pressures, with OAT yields at 3.055% and Bund yields at 2.323%.
Wall Street started the day lower and quickly deepened its losses, with the Dow Jones falling by 0.8% and the Nasdaq by 1%. The quarterly earnings season is in full swing, contributing to market volatility.
In the bond market, T-Bond yields rose to 4.251% for 10-year bonds, an increase of 3.8 points, while 30-year bonds saw yields rise to 4.528% (up 3 points).
In Europe, sovereign debt is performing relatively better, though the Bund is up by 0.5 points to 2.322%, and the OAT is holding steady at 3.05%.
Experts suggest that a potential return of Donald Trump to the presidency could be inflationary. Christopher Dembik from Pictet Asset Management notes that the stock market appears to be aligning with American sentiments, speculating on Trump’s chances in the upcoming election. He also highlights that the bond and equity markets do not always move inversely.
The resilience of the US market stands in contrast to Europe, where economic momentum is showing signs of slowing, negatively impacting corporate earnings. Recent US housing market statistics indicate a decline in resales of existing homes, dropping by 1% month-over-month—the lowest rate since late 2010—linked to rising interest rates. Currently, cash transactions account for 38% of sales, while first-time buyers make up only 26%. Homes now take an average of 28 weeks to sell, up from 21 weeks a year ago, with an average sale price of $404,500, marking a 3% annual increase.
On the foreign exchange market, the Euro is also sliding, down 0.2% against the Dollar at 1.0775, approaching a critical support level of 1.0790 set on August 1.
In company news, several firms are reporting earnings this week. Air Liquide announced a 3.3% increase in quarterly sales on a like-for-like basis, totaling sales of 6.76 billion euros for Q3 2024, although this reflects a 0.7% decline on a reported basis.
Noteworthy today is the achievement of a new all-time high for gold, priced at 2,755 per ounce, while silver is testing the significant $35 resistance level last set in October 2012.
Additional reports include Ipsen, which raised its annual targets, and Thales, which experienced a notable increase in orders along with a 9.4% rise in sales for the first nine months of 2024, totaling €14.07 billion. Organic growth in the defense and security sector particularly contributed to this performance.
Investors are also responding to L’Oréal and Vivendi’s end-of-September activity reports, released last evening, highlighting ongoing developments in Paris’s major companies.