(News Bulletin 247) – The CAC 40 rose sharply in mid-session as the equity markets cashed in well on the yet restrictive statements of the two major central banks.

The air pocket is a priori very temporary for the Paris Stock Exchange. After losing 0.5% on Thursday, the CAC 40 is moving forward this Friday and won 0.8% at mid-session. Over the week as a whole, the index is up 1.9% for the time being.

The equity markets are not departing from their optimism. This despite the announcements of the Federal Reserve (Fed) and the European Central Bank (ECB). The first marked a pause in its rate hike cycle on Wednesday evening, but its chairman, Jerome Powell, made it clear that further rate hikes were being considered by members of the central bank.

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Central banks “in combat mode”

For its part, the ECB proceeded as expected by the market to increase its key rates by 25 basis points, or 0.25%. But here again, the European institution underlined the persistence of inflation and its president, Christine Lagarde, declared that the ECB still had some way to go on this point. The central banker has indicated that its members plan to raise rates further at the next meeting in July.

“The Fed and the ECB remain in inflation-fighting mode, indicating that they are ready to raise rates more than expected this summer on fears that inflation will remain too high for longer. not impressed the equity markets, this led the interest rate markets to be even more cautious.The US and German yield curves are back to the level of inversion before the banking shock of mid-March, which is not a good sign for the economic cycle”, comments Xavier Chapard of LBPAM.

On the values, the Orpea action takes 6% and gained around 40% in three sessions, a movement difficult to explain but perhaps due to the positioning of certain private investors playing an adjustment of the restructuring plan.

For its part, LDLC dropped 6.7% after publishing results for its entire 2022-2023 financial year down sharply and below TP ICAP Midcap’s expectations.

On the other markets, the euro is stable against the dollar at 1.0948 dollar. Oil prices are losing some ground. The North Sea Brent contract for August delivery fell 0.6% to 75.23 dollars a barrel while the July contract on New York-listed WTI dropped 0.7% to 70.09 dollars a barrel.