(News Bulletin 247) – The Paris Stock Exchange continues to fall below 7,000 points, while the latest figures on Chinese foreign trade call for caution. The CAC 40 fell by 0.4% at lunchtime.

The Paris Stock Exchange continues its decline due to lack of exciting information to get your teeth into. The CAC 40 is currently down 0.45% below 7,000 points at 6,988 points this Tuesday afternoon.

On Monday, the flagship Parisian index showed a similar loss (-0.48%), taking its breath after a prosperous week (+3.71%).

The latest news comes from Asia-Pacific, and it is not encouraging for growth in China. Although imports from the world’s second largest economy grew against all expectations, by 3%, they are insufficient to make us forget the weakness of its foreign trade. According to figures released by the country’s customs on Tuesday, exports fell 6.4% year-on-year last month, while the consensus expected a less pronounced drop of 3.5%.

Chinese exports are suffering from “the slowdown in economic dynamics in the United States and Europe”, commented Zhang Zhiwei, economist at Pinpoint Asset Management quoted by AFP and who continues “that external demand would probably remain weak in the months to come. come”.

In Australia, the country’s central bank increased its key rate by 0.25 percentage points to 4.35%, after four pauses in the face of persistent inflation in the country. “The peak of inflation has passed in Australia, but it remains too high and has proven more persistent than expected a few months ago,” Ms Bullock said in a statement.

Still on the monetary front, the debate on the future direction of rates resurfaced after statements by the president of the Federal Reserve of Minneapolis, Neel Kashkari. The latter indicated that the American Central Bank still had work to do to control inflation. A speech which suggests that he was in favor of a further increase in interest rates like the turn of the screw by the Australian central bank this Tuesday morning.

Engie at the top of the CAC 40

Engie occupies the head of the CAC 40 (+2.5%), driven by an upward revision of its annual objectives thanks to a “context which remains generally favorable on the energy markets”.

Teleperformance is holding up well (+1.4%) despite a further adjustment of its turnover growth objective for 2023. The outsourced customer relations specialist also announced the launch of a share buyback program an amount close to 600 million euros.

On the other hand, Sanofi lost 1.50%, while the National Financial Prosecutor’s Office opened an investigation in March targeting the French pharmaceutical giant for price manipulation, according to information from La Lettre.

On the foreign exchange market, the euro lost 0.3% to 1.0682 dollars. As for oil, it is consolidating after having progressed the day before following the decisions of Saudi Arabia and Russia to weigh on supply this weekend. The latest figures on Chinese foreign trade also call for caution. The January contract on North Sea Brent lost 1.8% to $83.66 per barrel, while the December contract on WTI listed in New York also lost 1.8% to $79.39 per barrel.