(News Bulletin 247) – The Parisian index finished slightly higher, setting a new record at the close after having come close to that during the session. US inflation was in line with expectations, supporting risk appetite.

Records are pouring in this Wednesday. The CAC 40 came close to its highest point during the session (with 8,253.10 points around 9 a.m. compared to 8,259.19 points reached last Friday). The daily increase signed over the whole day, of 0.17% to 8,239.99 points, is sufficient to reach a new closing record.

The American markets are not left out, since the S&P 500 like the Nasdaq composite also recorded new records during the session. The two American indices rose 0.8% and 1% respectively shortly before the close of the European markets.

Risk appetite was fueled by the release of inflation figures in the United States for the month of April. The data turned out to be in line with economists’ expectations. Inflation excluding energy and food prices increased by 0.3% over one month and 3.6% over one year, exactly the consensus, after respective increases of 0.4% and 3.8%. % the preceding month. The monthly increase in headline inflation, of 0.3%, was slightly lower than the 0.4% expected by economists.

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What to expect from Fed rate cuts

“All things considered, this is compatible with a reduction in key rates by the US Federal Reserve (Fed) in September,” judges Capital Economics.

“The Fed will likely wait to see more data showing that inflation has returned to a downward path before it is convinced it can lower interest rates. However, today’s numbers should start to shift the discourse towards the question of “when” the Fed will reduce its interest rates in 2024 rather than “if” it will do so”, considers Josh Jamner, investment strategy analyst at Clearbridge Investments.

On the value side, Carrefour suffered the biggest drop in the CAC 40, losing 4.1%, while the JPMorgan bank went from “neutral” to “underweight” on the action, equivalent to “sell” in its nomenclature.

Trigano fell 7.4% as the company burned through more than 100 million euros of cash in the first half due to a rise in inventories.

Conversely, Euronext’s first quarter results (+3.2%) were well received by the market, the stock exchange operator having notably published an adjusted gross operating profit 7% higher than consensus, according to Jefferies.

On other markets, the euro gained 0.5% against the dollar to 1.0873 dollars, driven by inflation figures. Oil is rising a little. The July North Sea Brent contract gained 0.15% to $82.50 per barrel, while the June WTI contract in New York gained 0.2% to $78.19 per barrel.