(News Bulletin 247) – The CAC 40 is trending down sharply on Thursday as the markets gradually realize that the US Federal Reserve is expected to tighten its monetary screws more significantly than expected.

The Paris Stock Exchange remains in a gloomy mood on Thursday. The CAC 40 thus dropped 0.4% at mid-session to 7,297.06 points, and is thus heading towards a fourth consecutive decline.

The market is still struggling to take the statements made Tuesday and Wednesday by the Chairman of the Federal Reserve (Fed), Jerome Powell, who indicated that the American central bank could raise its rates to a higher level than anticipated by the market.

The central banker certainly assured yesterday that no decision had been made on the extent of the interest rate hike at the next Fed meeting on March 22, notes Michael Hewson of CMC Markets.

OVHcloud under pressure

The statements “briefly helped push yields lower and the US dollar off the highs of the day, but the reality remains that markets are slowly starting to realize that rates are likely to stay higher for longer and that the final rate will probably settle at a much higher level”, dissects the market analyst.

Investors’ attention is gradually turning to the publication on Friday afternoon of the US employment report for the month of February, which is closely followed by the market.

As for values, JCDecaux fell 12.6% after posting lower-than-expected profitability and delivering cautious business prospects for the first quarter.

OVHcloud shed 13% as funds TowerBrook and KKR sold a stake of nearly five million shares at an 8% discount to Wednesday’s closing price, according to Reuters.

Conversely, Dassault Aviation takes 10% after publishing robust annual results for 2022.

On other markets, the euro gained 0.2% against the dollar at 1.0565 dollars. Oil prices are changing little. The North Sea Brent contract for May advanced 0.1% to 82.77 dollars a barrel while the April contract on WTI listed in New York gleaned 0.1% to 76.74 dollars a barrel.