(News Bulletin 247) – The Paris Stock Exchange should open slightly higher on Friday morning, continuing its rebound from the day before after a particularly turbulent week during which investors were scared.

Around 8:15 a.m., the futures contract on the CAC 40 index – March expiry – resumed 58.5 points at 7085 points, suggesting a sort of pause or stabilization at the start of the session.

The stock markets experienced a week of great volatility, oscillating between heavy dropouts and relief rebounds, according to the often contradictory announcements concerning the health of the global financial system.

For the time being, investors say to themselves that the intervention of the American authorities and the Swiss central bank should make it possible to counter the contagion effect and avoid the appearance of so-called ‘systemic’ risks.

Over the week, the CAC has so far shown a decline of around 4%, while maintaining the symbolic threshold of 7,000 points, a real feat in view of the recent tremors that have weakened the banking sector.

The Parisian index should nevertheless interrupt its series of 22 consecutive weeks of increase (since September 2022) and give up nearly 5% compared to its recent highs, which had seen it cross the 7400 point mark.

Market participants still face a long list of concerns, ranging from the difficulties of Credit Suisse and US regional banks to rising interest rates, not to mention the threat of a global recession.

‘Compared to the period before the financial crisis, the systemic risks are much lower, but we can still expect some difficulties’, we warn at DWS.

Despite these still lingering fears, Wall Street rebounded strongly last night, with the Dow Jones rebounding 1.2% and the Nasdaq Composite soaring almost 2.5%.

Technology stocks have benefited from the decline in bond yields, which makes them more attractive to investors, who also consider them relatively immune to the ups and downs of the banking sector.

The opening session will be marked by new US indicators, including industrial production figures, leading indicators from the Conference Board and consumer confidence from Michigan.

Despite the current uncertainties, market participants are keeping an eye on economic indicators in an attempt to guess their implications for the timing of future monetary tightening by the Federal Reserve, which will meet next week.

In Europe, investors will closely follow the final inflation figures in the euro zone, which should confirm the slight decline in prices in February announced at the beginning of the month.

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