(News Bulletin 247) – The Paris Stock Exchange has finally ignored the inflation figures in the euro zone to focus on the results of good companies. The CAC 40 has more than recovered the ground lost the day before, with an increase of 0.7% on Thursday evening.

The Paris Stock Exchange saved his day. Struggling in the first part of the session after disappointing inflation figures in the euro zone, the CAC 40 closed Thursday evening at 7,300 points, at 7,284.22 points, thanks to an increase of 0.69%. .

The Parisian place found support with Eurofins Scientific (+5.7%), yet mistreated the day before after annual results and disappointing prospects. Luxury stocks and wines and spirits like Pernod-Ricard (+2.4%) also led to the rebound of the Paris star index, driven by the prospect of a recovery in the Chinese economy.

A very precious support while for several sessions, the inflation figures have worried the markets. In the United States, new indicators published today testify to the robustness of the American economy. Jobless claims fell by 2,000 last week to 190,000 while the cost of labor in the country jumped more than expected by 3.2% in the fourth quarter of 2022.

Inflation, scarecrow of the markets

The US job market thus remains too tight to push the US central bank to ease off on its rate hikes. Especially since the inflation figures published a few days earlier across the Atlantic revive this scenario. In Europe, the persistence of high inflation is also giving food for thought to the major central banks to prolong their monetary tightening and thus penalize the economy.

Inflation figures in the euro zone, published on Thursday, confirm this trend. The harmonized consumer price index, an inflation indicator used by the European Central Bank (ECB), rose by 8.5% year on year in February (after 8.6% in January), a figure significantly higher up 8.2% expected on average by economists polled by Reuters. Core inflation, which excludes energy and food prices, even rose from 7.1% in January to 7.4% in February.

“Central banks are certainly not short of excuses to continue their monetary tightening race. The next meeting of the European Central Bank, in two weeks, should again be dominated by hawks, given that the figures inflation surprised in practically all the major countries of the euro zone”, explains Robert Schramm-Fuchs at Janus Henderson. ECB President Christine Lagarde has already announced an interest rate hike of 0.5 percentage point in March.

The bond market is once again under tension, the yield on 10-year US government bonds exceeded 4% at 4.077%, while that of French debt of the same maturity is at 3.22%.

STMicroelectronics bottom of the CAC 40

On the values ​​front, TotalEnergies rose 2%, followed by Kering (+1.8%) and ArcelorMittal (+1.7%).

The biggest drop in the CAC 40 can be attributed to the liabilities of STMicroelectronics (-3.2%), which, according to several analysts, is suffering from Tesla’s announcements. During a day dedicated to investors, the American group specializing in electric vehicles indicated that it wanted to reduce the use of silicon carbide in the future in the production of its automobiles. STMicro has major ambitions in this semiconductor compound, which is vital for automotive electrification.

On the upside off the star index, SMCP, owner of the Sandro, Maje and Claudie Pierlot brands, jumped 7.4% after reporting strong growth in margins and profits for 2022.

Vallourec grew by more than 6%, driven by the return to positive cash generation in the fourth quarter, which puts the manufacturer of seamless tubes on the path to deleveraging.

TechnipEnergies gained more than 7% after indicating that it expects an operating margin for 2023 above expectations.

On other markets, the euro lost 0.7% against the dollar at 1.0594 dollars after the latest US statistics. Oil prices are gaining some ground. The North Sea Brent contract for May delivery rose 0.3% to $84.56 a barrel while New York-listed WTI for April delivery rose 0.45% to $78.04 a barrel. barrel.