(News Bulletin 247) – The Paris Stock Exchange closed this last session of June on a sharp rise, driven by a slowdown in May of inflation in Europe and the United States. The CAC 40 has had a perfect week and has gained 14.3% since the start of the year.

The Paris Stock Exchange is doing very well, and ends this last session of June up sharply, driven by signs of a lull in prices on both sides of the Atlantic. The CAC 40 thus offers a rebound of 1.19% at the close, to find its highest since May 23, at 7400.06 points.

The rebound of the day allows the Paris star index to gain more than 3% at the end of a perfect week, with five out of five sessions in positive territory. Over the month, the CAC 40 rose by 3.3%, bringing its gains to 14.3% since the start of the year.

The markets breathed a big sigh of relief after inflation showed signs of slowing down in May in the United States. The PCE index, the favorite gauge of the US Federal Reserve (Fed) in its appreciation of inflation, slowed to 3.8% year on year from 4.3% the month before, according to new data from the Commerce Department. Its “core” component, which measures underlying inflation, slowed slightly to 4.6% from 4.7% in April.

Earlier in the day, investors were in good spirits after learning that inflation in the euro zone fell from 6.1% in May to 5.5% in June. However, this decline is due to the sharp drop in energy prices. Core inflation, excluding energy and food prices, rose slightly to 5.4% from 5.3% in May.

Levitating Apple

The markets’ good mood was also fueled by Apple, which once again crossed the $3 trillion mark in market capitalization when the US markets opened. The iPhone maker had already passed that mark in January 2022 before falling back for the rest of the year.

In France, Engie appreciated 1.5% after having already gained 4% on Thursday. The energy group raised its earnings forecast for the 2023 financial year thanks to the good performance of its GEMS (Global Energy Management & Sales) activity, its energy asset trading, supply and risk management division.

The day before, the group had been carried by its agreement with Belgium on the extension of two nuclear reactors. An agreement which has the virtue of giving visibility to the group on the cost of processing nuclear waste.

Societe Generale advanced 1.1%, benefiting from a change in recommendation from Deutsche Bank which went from “buy” to “hold” on the stock.

Sodexo (-1%), raised its profitability forecast for its staggered 2022-2023 fiscal year (ending at the end of August) after having generated like-for-like growth of 10.5% in the third quarter.

After gaining almost 30% in the morning, Genfit experienced high volatility and finally lost more than 10% on Friday evening. The biotech has announced positive results from a clinical study, conducted in partnership with Ipsen (-0.4%), for its flagship molecule in a rare liver disease.

Casino continued its descent into hell (-20%) after having already lost 32.3% the day before, while the group warned on Wednesday evening that in any case its financial restructuring would result in a mega-dilution for its shareholders.

On the small and mid-cap side, 2CRSi plunged 9.2% after announcing degraded accounts for its 2022-2023 financial year.

On other markets, the euro recovered 0.4% to 1.0912 dollars. Oil prices are creeping up. The North Sea Brent contract for September delivery is up 1.6% at $75.69 a barrel, while the August contract on New York-listed WTI is up 1.50% at $70.91 the barrel.