(News Bulletin 247) – End of series. After its recent peaks, the Paris Stock Exchange closed in the red for the first time since the session of April 5. The CAC 40 ends this first session of the week down 0.28%.

After the time of the records, here comes that of the break. The Paris Stock Exchange took advantage of the start of the week to take a breather before getting into the hard part with the publication of numerous company results and major macroeconomic data.

The CAC 40 is down 0.28% and fails by a thread to save the course of 7,500 points, to stop its race at 7,498.18 points on Monday evening. The Parisian index had yet approached this first session of the week, up and on a new session record at 7,552 points, at 9:35 a.m. This is therefore the first session that has resulted in a decline for the CAC 40 since the closing of April 5 (-0.39%).

Friday, the flagship index of the Parisian place had ended the day up 0.52% to 7,519.61 points. Over the whole week, the main barometer of the Paris Stock Exchange had gained 2.66%, compared to the closing of Thursday April 6 (the Paris Stock Exchange having been closed on Friday April 7).

The calm before the storm?

Investors are showing a wait-and-see attitude at the start of the week before several meetings, notably the publication of China’s first-quarter gross domestic product on Tuesday. On Friday, they will dissect the “flash” PMI indices, which measure private sector activity, for the month of April.

It is above all the publications of companies that will animate the week. In particular in the United States where, after Wells Fargo, JPMorgan and Ctigroup, the market will wait for the accounts of Goldman Sachs and Bank of America, Tuesday, and Morgan Stanley, Wednesday. Tesla, Netflix, IBM or Lockheed Martin will also publish their results.

In France, L’Oréal, Renault, EssilorLuxottica and FDJ will publish their activity for the first quarter.

Renault red lantern of the CAC 40

Worldline gained 2.2%. The payment specialist benefited from a cross-reading, while one of its competitors, the Dubai-based Network International, received a takeover offer from the investment funds CVC and Francisco Partners with a generous premium, which underlines the low valuation of the sector.

On the other hand, Renault lost 3.9% after reporting global sales up 8.6% in the first three months of 2023. The diamond brand will publish its first quarter sales this Thursday.

Excluding the star index, Forvia, the automotive supplier which now brings together Hella and Faurecia (-0.4%), has already delivered its first milestone of 2023. The automotive supplier recorded sales up by more than 17.5% in the first quarter, like-for-like.

On the other markets, the euro lost 0.1% against the dollar at 1.098 dollars. Oil prices are losing ground. The June contract on Brent from the North Sea lost 0.2% to 86.22 dollars a barrel while that of May on WTI quoted in New York fell 0.2% to 82.37 dollars a barrel.