(News Bulletin 247) – The Paris Stock Exchange continues to decline after the figures on manufacturing activity in China. The CAC 40 lost 0.5% at mid-session.

In the absence of good news on the horizon, the Paris Stock Exchange remains anchored in a downward trend. Signs of a later-than-expected recovery in the Chinese economy are undermining the CAC 40, which lost 0.5% to 7172.85 points after a low of 7122.23 points, hit in the first trade on Wednesday morning.

Manufacturing activity in the country has indeed contracted for the second consecutive month, according to official data released on Wednesday. Evolving at a two-month low, the Parisian index is deprived of the support of luxury stocks, themselves penalized by the situation in China, one of their main markets. LVMH gives up 2%, Hermès gives back 1.8% when Kering loses 3.1% at mid-session.

For now, the CAC 40 is down 4.36% in May, and would post its first monthly decline of 2023.

Pending the official publication of inflation figures in the euro zone on Thursday, data from the various member states of the monetary union suggest a slowdown in inflation. In France, consumer price inflation slowed to 5.1% year on year in May, after 5.9% in April, according to INSEE data. On Tuesday, Italian figures also showed a slowdown in price growth to 7.6% year on year in May from 8.2% the previous month, as did in Spain, where inflation slowed in May to 3.2 % over one year.

The stock market debates obviously remain driven by the negotiations around the American debt ceiling. The agreement reached between Republicans and Democrats to raise the debt ceiling must still pass the caudine forks of Congress, where each camp could express its dissatisfaction with the compromise reached. The vote will take place on Wednesday in the House of Representatives, then a priori Friday or Saturday in the Senate.

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Capgemini on a cloud

Capgemini leads the CAC 40 thanks to a gain of 5.4%. The group benefits from several good news, namely the announcement of the winning of two contracts in Catalonia and the extension of its long-standing strategic partnership in data analysis and artificial intelligence with Google Cloud.

JCDecaux wins 3.1%, after announcing on Tuesday evening the acquisition of the activities in Italy and Spain of Clear Channel Outdoor Holdings.

Veolia appreciated for its part by 2.6% carried by Morgan Stanley which raised its target price to 34 euros on the specialist in water and waste management.

Sanofi is up 1.6%, the pharmaceutical company has announced positive phase II data (intermediate stage of clinical trials) for frexalimab its product intended to treat relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis.

On the side of small and mid caps, My energy broker is experiencing a fairly volatile stock market start, the title of the specialist in energy brokerage for individuals rose by 0.5% after falling in its inaugural exchanges.

On other markets, the euro fell 0.5% to 1.0677 dollars. For its part, oil continues to decline on fears about demand after the Chinese data. The contract for July on Brent from the North Sea fell 2.35% to 71.98 dollars a barrel while that of the same expiry on WTI listed in New York fell 2.6% to 67.64 dollars a barrel .