(News Bulletin 247) – The Parisian index ended up very slightly on Wednesday, while bond yields recorded an easing.

The Paris Stock Exchange had a session marked by a wait-and-see attitude on Wednesday. Quite clearly in the green in the morning, the CAC 40 then hesitated around equilibrium in the afternoon, finally ending slightly up 0.08% at 7246.62 points.

The market was supported by a fairly clear easing in bond yields, with the 10-year US Treasury bond rate falling to 4.23% from 4.33% on Tuesday evening.

Investors also scrutinized the PMI indices, which measure private sector activity on both sides of the Atlantic. In August, the composite index (which combines services and manufacturing activity) for the euro zone fell to 47, a 33-month low, against 48.6 in July.

In the United States, the index stood at 50.4 against 52 in July, falling to a low of six months. Remember that a mark below 50 reflects a contraction in activity.

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Nvidia on the horizon

“The collapse of the composite PMI index, which in August reached its lowest level for six months, casts further doubt on the idea of ​​an acceleration of the economy, the level of this corresponding index, as in the past, to near-zero GDP growth,” Capital Economics said.

These data may have led investors to revise their expectations on the key rates of the European Central Bank (ECB) and the Federal Reserve (Fed), explaining the easing observed on bond yields.

The market is now awaiting the publication on Wednesday evening of the quarterly results of the graphics card specialist Nvidia. The market reaction to this publication will test the appetite of investors for groups whose activity is linked to generative artificial intelligence, at the heart of chatbots like ChatGPT. The enthusiasm around this form of AI has driven Wall Street prices since the start of the year.

SocGen on the rise

As for values, Societe Generale gained 0.9%, benefiting from an increase in recommendation from Morgan Stanley to “overweight”.

Dassault Aviation took 1.3% after obtaining certification from European and American authorities for its Falcon 6X.

Virbac advanced by 2.1%. The veterinary laboratory has postponed the publication date of its half-year results, due to disruptions due to the June cyberattack, and announced a share buyback program.

On the other markets, the euro is stable against the dollar at 1.0850 dollar. Oil contracts fell sharply. The October contract on Brent from the North Sea lost 1% to 83.17 dollars a barrel, while that of the same term on WTI listed in New York yielded 0.9% to 78.91 dollars a barrel.