(News Bulletin 247) – The Paris Stock Exchange performed well this Wednesday, despite the plunge of Edenred, whose influence on the stock market is hardly significant (0.72% of the CAC 40). The flagship Parisian index therefore closed at a new peak, driven by Carrefour which attracted investors with its cash flow.

Another day marked by records on the Paris Stock Exchange. With a slight increase of 0.22%, the CAC 40 closed once again at a new peak, at 7,812.09 points, erasing its previous mark of 7,795.22 points which therefore only lasted 24 hours.

The flagship Parisian index also had the luxury of pushing its session record a little further to 7,821.93 points, reached around 11:26 a.m., supported by Carrefour, whose publication is appreciated by the markets.

The Fed or Nvidia minutes

On the macroeconomic agenda side, the news is reduced to its bare minimum. The US Federal Reserve (Fed) will publish the minutes of its latest monetary policy meeting at 8 p.m. This document will give some indications on the state of mind of its members less than a month before the Fed’s next monetary meeting. Expectations of a possible rate cut following this meeting have been reduced to 6.5%, while this probability stood at 46.2% just a month ago, according to the CME Fedwatch tool.

But the market is especially waiting for Nvidia’s quarterly results, which will be published after the market close this Wednesday evening. Big winner from the rise of artificial intelligence which translates into enormous demand for its graphics processors, Nvidia is experiencing an impressive rally (40% since January 1 and especially 230% over one year) which fascinates as much as it worries . The stock lost another 2% this Wednesday after losing more than 4% on Tuesday, a sign of the immense nervousness surrounding this publication, the slightest disappointment of which could do immense damage to the markets.

For now, the market continues to dissect the publications of French groups, generally of good quality, before those of Axa, Danone, Engie and even Fnac Darty on Thursday.

Edenred bright red, Carrefour in the increased section

At the top of the CAC 40, Carrefour gained 4.9% after delivering its annual accounts. If the results are mixed, cash generation exceeds all expectations and the group has significantly increased its dividend.

On the other side of the spectrum, Edenred saw bright red (-11.5%), showing its worst decline since March 12, 2020 (-16.58%) after Italian media reports indicating that the Italian subsidiary of Edenred was the subject of an investigation by the Rome prosecutor’s office regarding potential tender rigging allocated in 2021. The company confirmed the opening of an investigation but said it was “confident” in its outcome.

Down at mid-session, Sanofi finally finished in the green (+0.8%) while the “consumer health” division, i.e. non-prescription medicines, was the subject of marks of interest from investment funds, according to Bloomberg. Sanofi had announced that it wanted to introduce this division at the end of the year at the earliest.

On other markets, the euro fell 0.1% against the dollar to 1.0804 dollars. The oil regains some color. The April contract on North Sea Brent gained 0.4% to $82.66 per barrel while that on WTI listed in New York rose 0.6% to $77.46 per barrel.