(News Bulletin 247) – The Parisian index gained some ground this Friday, while inflation in the euro zone slowed down. But over the week, the CAC 40 remained in decline.

The Paris Stock Exchange generally took a breath this week. The CAC 40 gained 0.09% this Friday, to 7,934.17 points, which allows it to contain its decline to 0.41% over the whole week.

In terms of economic indicators, inflation in the euro zone slowed in February but a little less than expected. It rose to 2.6% over one year compared to 2.8% in January. But the consensus established by Reuters was 2.5%.

In the United States, manufacturing activity fell in February, according to the ISM survey, with an index at 47.8 in February compared to 49.1 in January while economists surveyed by the Wall Street Journal were counting on an index at 49.5. The threshold of 50 separates a contraction from an expansion of activity.

“But the most important news for the US Federal Reserve (Fed) is that there is still no sign of a significant rebound in goods price inflation,” notes Capital Economics.

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Saint-Gobain in the tough

The CAC 40 was penalized this Friday by the marked drop in Saint-Gobain, which lost 3.65%. The company generated a record margin and cash in 2023. But revenues are a tad lower than expected and the group indicated during a conference call that volumes would continue to decline in 2024. In a note published this Friday, the company Stifel bank recommends buying the stock in case of signs of weakness.

Vallourec lost 1.9% after publishing its results and communicating outlooks deemed “cautious” by an analyst for 2024.

Valeo for its part lost 2% while the group lowered its objectives for 2025, both in terms of revenue and margins.

Bonduelle also lost 5.6% after publishing its results for the first half of its staggered financial year.

Note the rebound of Edenred which gained 4.5% this Friday after several difficult sessions in the first part of the week.

On other markets, the euro gained 0.2% against the dollar to 1.0831 dollars. Oil accelerated its progress in the afternoon. The May contract on Brent from the North Sea advanced 2.7% to 84.15 dollars per barrel, while that of April on WTI listed in New York rose 3.1% to 80.67 dollars per barrel.