(News Bulletin 247) – The Paris Stock Exchange has managed to achieve the feat of resisting the downward trend printed on Wall Street after the rebound in producer prices last month. Author of a record in session, the CAC 40 ends up 0.9% driven by solid results of companies from Pernod Ricard or Orange.

Historic session for the CAC 40. The Paris star index closed up 0.89% to 7366.16 points on Thursday.

Shortly before lunchtime, it had exceeded its all-time high in session at 7,387.29 points. The previous records for the Parisian index dated from January 2022, with an index at 7,384.86 points during the session and 7,376.37 points at the close. The CAC 40 is not the only European index to break records. The FTSE 100, the main index of the London Stock Exchange, has set record after record in recent sessions, to cross the 8,000 point mark.

At the beginning of the afternoon, the rebound of the CAC 40 had nevertheless eased in the wake of the opening down in the American markets. On Wall Street, the atmosphere is far from festive, the indices lost more than 1% at the European close after a new statistic relating to prices in the United States.

In January, producer prices jumped more than expected, by 6% year on year. A data that did not please investors the day after the publication of solid retail sales still for January, in the United States. These price data provide strong arguments for the US Federal Reserve to continue its monetary tightening in the face of persistent inflation.

“A member of the Federal Reserve (Fed) has arguments to justify an increase of 50 basis points (0.20 percentage point, Editor’s note) at the next meeting of the institution. Investors were counting so far on a increase of 25 basis points”, reports on Twitter Michael Hewson, analyst of CMC Markets, quoted by AFP.

Orange clearly in the green this Thursday

This Thursday, however, it is the results of companies that carry the trend.

Orange (+6.5%) finished at the top of the index after having published objectives for 2025 considered reassuring by Barclays as well as its annual results. The telecom operator has notably announced that it plans to increase its dividend in 2023 and 2024.

Pernod Ricard ended up 3.4%. The spirits group published half-year results above expectations, thanks to its excellent pricing power.

Airbus (+4.9%) delivered a half-fig half-grape publication with disappointing prospects. But on the contrary, its annual results have largely exceeded analysts’ expectations. The aircraft manufacturer has also entered into negotiations with Atos to take a 30% minority stake in its Evidian division. As a result, the Atos share soared by 14.6% followed by Verallia, the publication of which was greeted with enthusiasm (+7.6%).

Another group to publish its annual results, Renault ticked all the right boxes, with an operating margin doubled and a generation of record cash. Nevertheless, investors had anticipated this good publication and the title marks a breather (-0.75%).

Ipsos dropped 5.7% after announcing a cautious outlook for 2023. The global polling and market research specialist anticipates a slowdown in its organic growth to slow to 5% and an operating margin of around 13% after 13 .1% in 2022.

On the other markets, the euro is stable against the dollar at 1.0690 dollar. Oil is moving up slightly. The North Sea Brent contract for April delivery rose 0.4% to $85.69 a barrel, while the New York-listed WTI contract gained 0.5% to $78.96 a barrel.