(News Bulletin 247) – The Paris Bourse starts the week in the red, in the absence of Wall Street closed for Labor Day. Up 0.7% at midday, the CAC 40 turned down to finally close down 0.24%, also undermined by the latest comments from Christine Lagarde.

The Paris Stock Exchange had to do without the Wall Street compass, the American place having extended the weekend for the Labor Day, Labor Day across the Atlantic this Monday, September 5. The CAC 40 closes this first session of the week down slightly by 0.24%, to return below 7300 points to 7279.51 points on Monday evening.

The volumes traded are typical of a day marked by the absence of American operators since only 677 million euros were processed on Monday.

Galvanized by hopes of a rebound in the Chinese economy, the CAC 40, which was gaining 0.7% at the start of the afternoon, gradually saw its lead crumble. And the explanation seems to come from the European Central Bank (ECB) and its president Christine Lagarde, whose latest outing has somewhat rushed investors.

“Central banks need to keep inflation expectations firmly anchored when price changes take place,” she told a seminar organized by the European Center for Economics and Finance. in London. In other words, even if this tone was expected from the markets, the latest statements from the boss of the ECB seem to confirm that the battle against inflation is not yet won. This while the latest inflation figures in the euro zone came out above expectations.

Still on the macroeconomics front, the latest publications on US employment open the door to a more accommodating monetary policy from the Federal Reserve. “The markets are now expecting a pause from the Fed confirmed on September 20 and a first rate cut in May 2024, compared to July two weeks ago”, underlines Vincent Boy, Market Analyst at IG France.

Buy the rumor, sell the news for Saint-Gobain

On the business side, Thales ended up 1.1% benefiting from the support of Jefferies raised its recommendation to buy.

Saint-Gobain was subject to profit taking (-3.1%) after the announcement of its inclusion in the pan-European Euro Stoxx 50 index as of September 18th. This promotion within the stock market elite was expected by market observers such as UBS, which already noted in July that Saint-Gobain was a serious contender for a place in this index.

Note also LVMH which lost 0.4% while the luxury giant abandoned its crown of first European capitalization in favor of the Danish pharmaceutical laboratory Novo Nordisk.

On other markets, the euro lost 0.5% against the dollar at 1.0792 dollars. Oil is gaining some ground. The November contract on North Sea Brent crude rose 0.4% to $88.94 a barrel while the October contract on New York-listed WTI rose 0.45% to $85.94 the barrel.