(News Bulletin 247) – The Parisian index ended down 0.34% while the PCE index did not reserve any unpleasant surprises. Several stocks outside the CAC 40 were heavily sanctioned following the publication of their results.

The Paris Stock Exchange had a day that was both calm and turbulent. Quite calm for the CAC 40 stricto sensu. But turbulent for many stocks outside the Parisian benchmark index, these securities having faltered following the publication of their annual results.

Ultimately, the CAC 40 ended down 0.34% at 7,927.43 points. Note that the index still beat its all-time high in the session at the start of the morning, with a new mark at 7,977.68 points (compared to 7,976.40 points on February 23).

The most anticipated indicator of the day, the PCE index, the preferred gauge of the American Federal Reserve (Fed) to measure inflation, did not shake the market. This index increased by 2.8% year-on-year in January, excluding energy and food prices, falling right in line with analysts’ expectations.

The yield on the 10-year US sovereign bond fell on the secondary market following the publication of this data, while it had previously increased. A sign that investors perceive this statistic more as a favorable sign for rate cuts by the Fed.

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Nexity and Euroapi in free fall

The news was mainly dominated by company publications. The only CAC 40 group to reveal its accounts, Veolia lost 3.5%. The annual results are however judged “good” by Oddo BHF. But the company’s new medium-term ambitions, communicated during the morning, visibly disappointed the market. The group notably intends to generate gross operating income (Ebitda) greater than or equal to 8 billion euros in 2027 and intends to increase its current net income by around 10% per year between 2023 and 2027.

It was mainly the groups outside the CAC 40 which marked the session, with numerous stock market punishments.

Air France-KLM dropped 8.6% after publishing results below expectations for the fourth quarter, suffering from the comparison with its British competitor IAG which on the contrary delivered a better copy than expected, according to UBS.

SMCP fell 9.8% after delivering its results for the 2023 financial year but without communicating a target for 2024.

Nexity plunged 20% as the company saw its 2023 results hit hard by the residential real estate crisis.

Euroapi collapsed 43.3% after delivering an outlook well below expectations, due to an expected drop in sales to its former parent company Sanofi.

Conversely, Clariane jumped 15% after publishing annual results deemed “good” by Yi Zhong, analyst at the independent research firm AlphaValue.

On other markets, the euro lost 0.3% against the dollar at 1.0809 dollars. Oil is gaining some ground. The May contract on North Sea Brent advanced 0.3% to $82.40 per barrel, while the April contract on WTI listed in New York gained 0.48% to $78.93 per barrel. .