(News Bulletin 247) – The Paris Stock Exchange recorded its first session of growth of the week. The CAC 40 closed slightly up 0.21%, but remained stuck below 7,600 points this Thursday.

First session of the week of growth for the Paris Stock Exchange. The CAC 40 closed slightly up 0.2%, but this progression proved insufficient to overcome the 7,600 point barrier, ending its race at 7,586.55 points.

The day’s session was marked by the meeting of the European Central Bank. Unsurprisingly, it left its key rates unchanged, after having made an initial reduction at the beginning of June.

“The ECB had suggested that this July meeting would not lead to a change in its monetary policy but that it would above all allow it to assess the effects of the first rate cut and to verify that the economic forecasts updated in June were confirmed,” notes Jean-Patrice Prudhomme, director of products and solutions at Milleis Banque Privée.

“The many indicators published before the next meeting in September still have the potential to change economic projections,” continues the specialist, who points out that “the consensus of analysts today predicts two new decreases by the end of the year of 0.25 points during its meetings in September and December.”

It is worth noting that France issued a total of €14 billion in bonds and inflation-linked bonds, its first issue since the results of the legislative elections. Investors responded with demand exceeding supply by more than twice over on each security.

Publicis launches earnings season favorably

On the value side, Publicis successfully opened the CAC 40 results season, gaining 2.98%. The advertising group posted higher-than-expected growth in the second quarter and raised its target for the 2024 financial year.

Essilorluxottica closed up 1.50%, after climbing 7.2% early in the afternoon, following information from the Financial Times that Meta was considering buying a stake in the Franco-Italian optical group.

Crédit Agricole SA gained 1.4%, helped by a buy rating upgrade from UBS.

On the other side of the rankings, Schneider Electric returned 3.1%, penalized by weak orders from its Swiss peer ABB.

On other markets, the euro fell 0.3% against the dollar to $1.0913. Oil was sluggish. The September contract on North Sea Brent gained 0.1% to $85.16 a barrel, while the August contract on WTI listed in New York also gained 0.1% to $81.52 a barrel.