(News Bulletin 247) – The Paris Stock Exchange remains well oriented, still driven by a calmer climate in the banking sector. The CAC 40 appears up 1.2% at midday before the inflation figures in Germany.

A four in a row? The Paris Stock Exchange is heading for a fourth session of increases in a row, still driven by the ebb of fears about the banking sector.

The CAC 40 rose another 1.2% to 7,272.87 points the day after a gain of 1.4%. The ascent that began at the start of the week allows the star index to return to levels more explored since the March 9 session.

As the situation in the banking sector is much calmer than a week ago, inflation and monetary policies now focus the attention of operators.

In Spain, price dynamics have clearly calmed down. Inflation slowed more than expected in March to 3.3% year on year in March after 6% in February. For the German figures, it will be necessary to wait until 2:00 p.m. to know the first estimate of the evolution of prices across the Rhine before, on Friday, the publication of the figures for the whole of the euro zone and of the PCE prices in the United States which is the measure favored by the Fed in its assessment of price dynamics.

The banking sector orchestrating the rebound

The banking sector continues to rebound. At the top of the CAC 40, we find Societe Generale (+3.1%), BNP Paribas (+2.4%), Crédit Agricole (+1.7%) and Axa (+1.5%).

Excluding the flagship index, Orpea put an end to its descent into hell and rebounded by more than 14% on Thursday.

Casino takes up 5.1%. Distribution Casino France, a subsidiary of the distributor, has announced that it has increased its stake in Smart Good Things, Tony Parker’s company.

On the side of the foreign exchange market, the euro resumed 0.2% to 1.0863 dollars. Oil prices remain on the upside, driven by signs of increasing US demand with the unexpected drop in US inventories last week and the halt in Iraqi oil exports. A barrel of Brent from the North Sea for delivery in May rose 0.8% to 78.19 dollars, while a barrel of American WTI for the same maturity rose 0.9% to 73.65 dollars.