(News Bulletin 247) – The Paris Bourse can thank the American employment figures and Apple. The CAC 40 closed up 1.3% not far from its highs of the day. However, the progress is insufficient to erase a bad start to the week.

The Paris Stock Exchange can thank the American employment figures and Apple. The CAC 40 closed up 1.3% almost at its highest level of the day. However, the increase was insufficient to erase the bad start to the week, with the index ending this news-rich week in negative territory (-0.8%).

The Paris Stock Exchange had started May with difficulty, with a Parisian index which had fallen by 1.45% from the first session of this fifth month of the year. A feverish trend that did not bode well for the rest of a week full of major events. Finally, the CAC 40 recovered on Friday to close up 1.26% on 7,400 points to 7,432.93 points, with a peak in session at 7,437.60 points.

This rebound, with 100 points taken over the day, enabled the Parisian index to limit its decline to 0.78% weekly. On Thursday, it was still down 2% for the week after ending its run at a one-month low of 7,340.77 points. Note that the Paris Stock Exchange will be open Monday, May 8, with volumes that will probably be anemic.

The Apple Surprise

This burst of pride from the Parisian marketplace was supported by Apple, which defied the laws of gravity. The Apple brand’s results beat market expectations, driven by a slight increase in iPhone sales.

A robust US employment report for April also delighted traders. The United States thus created last month 253,000 jobs against an estimate of 180,000 units. The unemployment rate contracted to 3.4% against expectations of 3.6%. The average salary increased by 4.4% whereas it was expected to remain stable at 4.2%. These figures are double-edged for the markets.

On the one hand, the tenor of the figures published today rules out the hypothesis of a recession to come for the world’s largest economy. On the other hand, this stronger than expected employment report will not necessarily encourage the Fed to pivot towards a rate cut. On Wednesday, the US Federal Reserve (Fed) and the European Central Bank (ECB) on Thursday both raised their key rates by 25 basis points, or 0.25 points.

Investor morale is also maintained by a precarious easing of fears about the American banking sector. Shares of US regional banks are back on the rise on Wall Street after falling sharply the day before, including California’s PacWest, which soared 70% after falling 90% in recent days.

Nanobiotix flies away, Air France-KLM accuses the blow

As for corporate publications, Air France-KLM returned 2.6%, after publishing a stronger operating loss than expected by analysts and lowering its capacity forecast for 2023.

Nexans grew by 5.1% driven by the win of the largest contract in its history, worth 1.7 billion euros, with the electricity transmission network operator TenneT.

The renewed appetite for the market is also reflected in cheap buybacks on stocks that have suffered in recent sessions. Renault (+4.5%) was supported by Morgan Stanley which resumed its coverage of the title to “overweight” (the equivalent of buying from the bank) judging that the manufacturer has many “opportunities” to protect its volumes and the margins of its internal combustion engine vehicles.

Maisons du Monde (+4.4%) and Atos (+4%) also benefited from investors’ buying mood.

On the side of the more modest caps, it was the session of Nanobiotix. The nano-medicine pioneer has soared 158% as a potential commercialization of its flagship product looms.

Beneteau for its part rose by 3.40% as it plans to sell its mobile homes to Trigano (+2%), to refocus on boats.

On other markets, the euro gained 0.10% against the dollar at 1.1026 dollars. Oil contracts are progressing sharply. The North Sea Brent contract for delivery in July is up 3.4% at 75 dollars a barrel, while the June contract on WTI listed in New York is up 3.6% at 71 dollars a barrel.