(News Bulletin 247) – The Paris Stock Exchange is down for the third consecutive session, penalized by Jerome Powell’s comments on further rate hikes while British inflation is still at a high level in May. The CAC 40 ended down 0.5% on Wednesday evening.

Slightly down at midday, the Paris Bourse deepened its decline after the first semi-annual hearing of the president of the American central bank before Congress. Jerome Powell has indeed estimated that the key rates of the Fed should still take the upward slope in the coming months, even if the rate of increases should be less sustained than previously.

This nuance did not convince investors, as evidenced by the orientation of the indices on both sides of the Atlantic. The CAC 40, which lost up to 0.7% at the height of the day, ended down 0.46% at 7260.97 points. On Wall Street, the atmosphere is a little grimacing, especially on the Nasdaq which lost more than 1.4%, or the S&P 500 (-0.5%) at the close of European stock markets.

Inflation was also discussed this Wednesday morning with the British figures. Prices on the other side of the Channel do not show signs of calming down in May, contrary to the expectations of analysts and countries in the euro zone. Inflation held steady last month at 8.7% year-on-year, where the consensus had hoped for a modest decline to 8.4% on average.

This persistent inflation pleads for a new tightening of the Bank of England with, as a result, a 13th consecutive increase in its interest rates. The British institution will decide on Thursday on a probable evolution of its monetary policy intended to stem inflation

Movement in Casino’s capital

As for values, Renault limits its gains to 0.8% while Stellantis closes down a symbolic 0.1%. The two automakers benefit from the announcement of an 18.20% rebound over one year in new car registrations in Europe, according to the Association of European Automobile Manufacturers.

Casino ends the day at the top of the SBF 120 (+11.3%). A concert of shareholders led by Fimalac announced that it had risen to more than 12% of the capital of the capital of the Saint-Etienne company in great difficulty, according to a statement to the Financial Markets Authority.

As for small and mid-caps, Hoffmann Green Cement (+8%) announces the signing of an agreement with Shurfah Holding which defines the main principles of an exclusive licensing agreement with a view to building four Hoffmann units in Saudi Arabia.

On other markets, the euro rose 0.25% to 1.0952 dollars. Oil is on the rise again. The August contract on Brent from the North Sea jumped 1.6% to 77.11 dollars a barrel, while that of the same expiry on WTI quoted in New York recovered 2% to 72.61 dollars a barrel .