(News Bulletin 247) – The CAC 40 ended down 0.2% after the publication of unattractive statistics as the market wondered about the outcome of the talks on raising the debt ceiling in the United States.

The trend was very feverish on the Paris Bourse, the news of the day not having pleaded to give tone to its flagship index. And the news from across the Atlantic added uncertainty to an already gloomy market context. The CAC 40 ended down 0.16% below 7406.01 points. Monday, he had finished close to balance after a session without relief.

Market operators are hardly helped by the latest indicators published during the day. In the afternoon, investors learned of retail sales for the month of April. They certainly emerged up 0.4% monthly, but the market for its part anticipated an increase of 0.8% over one month, according to the consensus compiled by the Wall Street Journal.

Retail sales may have resisted the rise in interest rates in April, but “household spending will slow in the second quarter. Consumers continue to face constraints linked to higher borrowing costs and high prices,” commented Rubeela Farooqi, economist for HFE quoted by AFP.

Earlier in the day, operators had already looked gray after the publication of the Zew index, which measures the morale of German investors. This contracted to -10.7 (the balance between negative and positive opinions) in May, against 5.3 expected by economists polled by Reuters.

The Chinese statistics published overnight from Monday to Tuesday are also hardly engaging. Industrial production rose 5.6% year on year in April. Retail sales also came in below expectations.

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Important meeting at the White House

The market is also avoiding risk-taking ahead of a crucial meeting on raising the debt ceiling in the United States, scheduled for the evening at the White House. The President, Joe Biden, will receive the leaders of the Democratic Party and the Republican Party in Congress.

As for values, Airbus rose 2.6% while Delta is in discussions with the European aeronautical group to order A350 and A330 neo, according to Bloomberg, which evokes “tens” of potential units.

Bouygues shows the biggest drop in the CAC 40 and lost 3.7% after publishing results in line with expectations. But Equans’ margins seem to worry the market.

Eurazeo lost 1.4% after reporting a 10.1% increase in assets under management in the first quarter.

On the small and mid-cap side, Lumibird rebounded 7.2% after announcing its plan to acquire the high-power laser and semiconductor businesses of Italian company Prima Industrie.

On other markets, the euro lost 0.15% to 1.0858 dollars. Oil is losing ground slightly. The North Sea Brent July contract is down 0.5% at $74.86 a barrel while New York-listed WTI for June is down 0.4% at $70.80 a barrel.