Paris Stock Exchange is expected to open slightly higher, buoyed by positive trends from Wall Street and Asia. Investor sentiment remains cautious amid renewed trade tensions following U.S. protectionist measures. While the CAC 40 has dipped this week, focus is shifting toward economic updates and earnings reports. Anticipation builds for Amazon’s results and U.S. job data, which may influence market volatility. The dollar weakens against the euro, while oil prices stabilize and gold shows minor consolidation.
Paris Stock Exchange Set for a Slightly Positive Opening
The Paris Stock Exchange is anticipated to start the day on a slightly positive note this Thursday morning, offering a brief respite after recent fluctuations in the market. This follows a favorable trend seen on Wall Street and in Asia. As of 8:15 AM, the CAC 40 index futures contract, set to expire at the end of the month, is showing an increase of 24 points, reaching 7926.5 points, suggesting a modest recovery at the opening bell.
Investor Sentiment Amid Trade Tensions
Concerns have resurfaced regarding potential trade wars following the protectionist measures introduced by U.S. President Donald Trump last weekend, impacting relations with key trading partners. Investors are apprehensive that escalating tensions could stifle global growth and corporate profits—two driving forces behind last year’s stock market surge. Recently, U.S. indices have responded nervously to the prospect of fewer interest rate cuts from the Federal Reserve this year, resulting in mixed or stagnant performance over the past week.
In Paris, the CAC is currently down approximately 0.7% this week. Nevertheless, amidst rising concerns, investors seem to be shifting their focus toward economic updates and quarterly earnings from listed companies, temporarily setting aside trade issues. Since Tuesday, a less anxious outlook has emerged among market participants, who view the lack of additional negative news as a positive indicator, leading them to seek out potential stock bargains.
The New York Stock Exchange demonstrated a surge in the final trading session yesterday, with the Nasdaq closing slightly up by 0.2%. The Dow Jones achieved a daily high with a 0.7% increase, while the S&P 500 managed to double its gains in the last moments of trading, ending the session with a 0.4% rise. This upward momentum has carried over to Asia, where the Nikkei index rose by 0.7% at the close. Investors, eager to recover from a rocky start to the week, are now looking forward to robust earnings reports that could restore some of last year’s optimism.
Market participants may experience a brief pause today, gearing up for an exciting end of the week with Amazon’s earnings report expected this evening and the U.S. employment figures set to release tomorrow. The insights from Amazon’s performance will be particularly telling for the cloud sector, which is closely tied to AI developments, especially following disappointing news from Alphabet (Google) earlier this week. This marks the sixth earnings report from the “Magnificent Seven,” while anticipation builds for Nvidia’s upcoming results on February 22.
However, tomorrow could bring renewed volatility with the closely monitored U.S. job creation data for January. Many analysts believe that the recent wave of risk aversion could lead to further market shocks. The bond market remains divided between concerns over trade war implications—pushing yields higher—and its role as a safe haven, which tends to favor lower rates. After a disappointing ISM services report that suggests continued monetary easing by the Fed, the yield on 10-year U.S. Treasury bonds is hovering around 4.42%, a level not seen in over a month.
The apprehension surrounding a potential trade war’s impact on U.S. economic growth has placed downward pressure on the dollar, allowing the euro to inch closer to the 1.04 mark against the greenback, despite facing challenges ahead of Germany’s upcoming elections. In the oil market, crude prices are stabilizing after a notable decline the previous day. Brent crude is showing a modest increase of 0.3% at $74.8 per barrel, while U.S. light crude (WTI) is up 0.4% at $71.3 per barrel. Additionally, gold, which has performed well in recent sessions, is slightly consolidating this morning, down 0.4% at $2,880.5 per ounce after achieving several historical highs in recent days.