(News Bulletin 247) – The Parisian index rose mid-session this Wednesday, while investors wait for the outcome of the monetary policy meeting of the American Federal Reserve.

The market seems to be waiting for the outcome of the two-day meeting of the American Federal Reserve (Fed) without trembling. After falling the day before, the CAC 40 increased by 0.25% to 7,562.51 points at mid-session this Wednesday.

The big meeting of the day obviously remains the decision on Fed rates, expected at 8 p.m. and followed by the speech from its president, Jerome Powell.

If there is no doubt about the status quo on rates, the market will remain very attentive to the tone used by the central banker, so as to detect the slightest clue allowing us to anticipate what happens next. For now, according to the CME Group’s FedWatch tool, investors are expecting between a drop of 100 basis points and 125 basis points (i.e. 1% to 1.25%) in the Fed’s key rates in 2024.

“We still think that core inflation will slow below 3% before mid-2024 but that, thereafter, convergence to the 2% target will be slower and will require a sharper slowdown in growth and American employment in the coming months. In this context, the Fed should not raise its rates further but should try to convince the markets that it is not ready to lower its rates quickly”, estimates Xavier Chapard of LBPAM.

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Carrefour retreats

Until then, the market will be content with meager indicators like the producer price index this afternoon in the United States. In the euro zone, industrial production fell by 0.7% in October over one month, more than the 0.3% decline expected by the consensus compiled by Reuters.

On the value side, Arkema rose by 4.5%, driven by an increase in purchasing advice from UBS.

Carrefour lost 3% while according to the Kantar barometer over the period from October 30 to November 26, E.Leclerc saw its market share jump compared to the comparable period of 2022, rising to 24.6%. (+1.6%) while that of Carrefour fell by 0.4% to 18.8%.

Solutions 30 gains more than 6% after taking stock of its ambitions, with the group aiming in particular for a double-digit gross operating margin in all its geographies. The former PC-30 also indicated that its debt would peak this year before falling, while remaining significantly below the ceiling desired by its creditors.

On the small stocks side, SII jumped 31.2% while the IT company will be the subject of a public takeover bid resulting in a premium of 32%.

On other markets, the euro lost 0.2% against the dollar to 1.0779 dollars. Oil prices are rising timidly. The February contract on North Sea Brent gained 0.2% to $73.40 per barrel while that of January on WTI listed in New York advanced 0.1% to $68.80, moving close to its lowest since the end of June.