(News Bulletin 247) – The Paris Stock Exchange is moving cautiously while awaiting speeches from central bankers, the most anticipated of which is that of the president of the American Federal Reserve. The CAC 40 rose timidly by 0.2%.

Caution remains palpable on global markets including the Paris Stock Exchange. After falling in the morning, the CAC 40 is attempting a return to 7,000 points this Wednesday at mid-session. The flagship index gained 0.2% after losing nearly 0.9% over the last two sessions.

Two statistics could explain this recovery of the CAC 40 around 11:30 a.m., namely the inflation figures in Germany. A slowdown is confirmed at 3.8% year-on-year in October, its lowest level since August 2021. Another statistic of the morning, still in Europe, retail sales which appeared weak for the month of September. They fell by 0.3% over one month and by 2.9% over one year in the 20 countries sharing the single currency.

Investors are also in a waiting position before the long-awaited speech by Jerome Powell, the chairman of the American Federal Reserve, on Thursday during a debate at the International Monetary Fund. Before that, he will speak at an economic conference in Washington this Wednesday.

But several Fed officials and in particular supporters of a strict monetary policy came to instil doubt. Minneapolis Fed President Neel Kashkari said it was premature to declare victory too quickly in the Fed’s battle against inflation. He was followed by another Fed official, Michelle Bowman, who judged that a further rate hike could be necessary to control inflation, if it did not slow down in the coming months.

A rosy scenario undermined?

Quoted by AFP, the governor of the Bank of England (BoE) recalled on Wednesday that it was “far too early to consider interest rate cuts”, during the 2023 “Financial System Conference” in Dublin .

The governor of the central bank of Latvia, Martins Kazaks, indicated for his part that the European Central Bank should not rule out further rate increases. “We cannot rule out the possibility that further rate hikes are necessary because we simply don’t know,” he told a conference in Riga.

Crédit Agricole exceeds expectations, Legrand disappoints

Publications from companies listed on the CAC 40 are continuing their course. Crédit Agricole increased by 1.90% after quarterly accounts above expectations.

On the other hand, Legrand disappointed the market, with lower quarterly growth due to a sharply declining construction market.

On the foreign exchange market, the euro lost 0.2% to 1.0620 dollars. As for oil, it continues its consolidation weighed down by fears about Chinese demand after lackluster foreign trade figures. The January contract on North Sea Brent lost 0.7% to 81.03 dollars per barrel, while that of December on WTI listed in New York returned 0.8% to 76.76 dollars per barrel.