(News Bulletin 247) – The Parisian index clearly lost ground mid-session, digesting a mountain of company publications while awaiting American growth.

Tough session for the CAC 40 which must digest an avalanche of generally mixed company results. The Parisian index dropped 0.9% at the start of the afternoon to 8,020 points.

Investors are awaiting the release this afternoon of US gross domestic product (GDP) for the first quarter. Economists surveyed by the Wall Street Journal expect growth of 2.2% on an annual basis. New weekly unemployment registrations will also be scrutinized.

The session is mainly animated by the wave of publications, with several groups sanctioned. Dassault Systèmes lost 5% after quarterly results described as “mixed at best” by Stifel. Hermès lost 4% despite vigorous growth of 17% excluding currency effects in the first quarter, against a consensus of 14%.

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STMicro makes the elevator, Sanofi progresses

Pernod Ricard lost 3% as its sales disappointed investors in the third quarter. Carrefour is poorly oriented (-2.7%) with less dynamic revenues than expected by analysts, and a lowering of recommendations from Morgan Stanley to “online weighting” compared to “overweight” previously.

A few groups stand out positively. Sanofi rose 3.8% after revealing results “a little above expectations”, according to Oddo BHF.

STMicroelectronics, as usual, is very volatile. The stock advanced 2.5% after opening down 5%. The group lowered its annual revenue target and delivered results that were worse than expected. But the market judges a priori that the bottom of the wave has now passed for the semiconductor specialist.

BNP Paribas gained 0.9% thanks to a net profit above expectations thanks to results driven by its “corporate and investment banking” division.

Outside of the CAC 40, Fnac Darty is doing well with an increase of 7% thanks to a publication that is “not so bad” to use the words of TP ICAP Midcap.

On other markets, the euro gained 0.2% against the dollar to 1.0723 dollars. Oil is moving forward a little. The June contract on North Sea Brent advanced 0.2% to 87.22 dollars per barrel, while that of the same maturity on WTI listed in New York gained 0.2% to 83 dollars per barrel.