(News Bulletin 247) – The Parisian index ended a busy session slightly down, while the European Central Bank considers it premature to discuss rate cuts and American GDP was higher than expectations. In terms of publications, those of Carrefour, STMicro and Danone were well received by the market unlike that of BNP Paribas.

It wasn’t the easiest session for investors to understand, between an avalanche of publications, a meeting of the European Central Bank (ECB) and the publication of US GDP for the third quarter. In the end, the CAC 40 lost 0.38% to 6,888.96 points.

Unsurprisingly, the ECB opted for the status quo and made no announcements. Its president, Christine Lagarde, seemed a little worried about the situation, noting for example signs of weakening in the labor market. But the central banker also indicated that members of the ECB had not discussed lowering its key rates and considered a debate on this point “premature”.

Which is not to the taste of all analysts. “Today’s developments reinforce our view that the ECB does not intend to tighten policy further. They also reinforce our belief that by raising rates in September, the ECB engaged in excessive tightening , given that all the factors motivating today’s decision were already evident at the time of the September monetary policy meeting,” asserts Bill Papadakis, strategist at Lombard Odier.

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Carrefour well received by the market

American GDP for the third quarter increased by 4.9% year-on-year (at an annualized rate) against 4.7% anticipated by economists surveyed by the Wall Street Journal.

“On its own, the surprisingly strong 4.9% annual rise in GDP in the third quarter suggests that the Fed needs to do even more to slow demand, but the slowdown in core PCE inflation (a data contained in the publication, Editor’s note) at an annualized rate of 2.4% is just as remarkable”, underlines Capital Economics.

But beyond the macroeconomics, investors had their hands full with numerous publications to dissect.

On the CAC 40, Carrefour gained 4.7% thanks to a turnover significantly higher than expectations in the third quarter, while BNP Paribas fell by 2.6%, despite results rather higher than consensus. But retail banking has disappointed.

Danone advanced 2.4% after delivering an encouraging publication in the third quarter, which “shows more evidence that its recovery is taking place”, appreciates Barclays.

STMicroelectronics gained 4.9% following the publication of its quarterly results which were better than expected.

Sodexo has whetted the market’s appetite

Outside the CAC 40, Plastic Omnium declined (-22.8%) after lowering its financial targets for 2023.

Clariane (ex-Korian) fell 19.5% after having already lost 20.3% the day before. The market is worried about the balance sheet of the company which indicated on Wednesday that its debt leverage would be around 3.8 at the end of the year compared to 3.5 previously indicated for the same horizon. As L’Agefi points out, the market fears that the retirement home operator will carry out a capital increase.

Conversely, Sodexo gained 5.2% after delivering solid results for its entire 2022-2023 financial year ending last August.

On other markets, the euro fell by 0.4% against the dollar, to 1.0526 dollars. Oil prices are falling. The December contract on Brent from the North Sea fell by 1.6% to 87.71 dollars per barrel, while that of the same maturity on WTI listed in New York dropped 1.8% to 83.84 dollars per barrel. .