(News Bulletin 247) – The Paris Stock Exchange is timidly returning to the path of growth, the day after a decline of almost 1%. The CAC 40 gained 0.42% this Tuesday evening, before the publication of Microsoft’s results in the evening and the Fed’s decision on Wednesday.

The Paris Stock Exchange is recovering some colour, the day after a somewhat complicated session. The CAC 40 closed up 0.42% on Tuesday at 7,474.94 points, after losing nearly 1% the day before. However, the leading Parisian index dropped a few dozen points compared to its peak during the session (+0.78% at 7,501.56 points).

In the absence of major publications on Tuesday, the market therefore focused on dense macroeconomic news. Investors had the opportunity to dissect the publications of gross domestic products (GDP) from several major economies in the eurozone.

“Growth was strongest and above expectations in Spain (+0.8% quarter-on-quarter), followed by France (+0.3%) and Italy (+0.2%). Germany was once again the worst performer with a GDP contraction of 0.1%,” summarises Capital Economics.

Across the euro zone, GDP grew by 0.3% in the second quarter, compared with a Reuters consensus of 0.2%.

Investors have shrugged off a surprise acceleration in consumer prices in Germany in July. In preliminary data, inflation in its version harmonised with European standards stood at 2.6% over one year in July, against a consensus of 2.5% and after 2.5% in June.

In the United States, the macroeconomic agenda was also busy, with job openings in the United States falling more than expected, to 8.18 million vacancies in June, after 8.23 ​​million in May.

And at 4:00 p.m., traders noted an improvement in the morale of the American consumer. According to the monthly survey of the Conference Board, the index came out above expectations at 100.3 points, against a consensus of 99.7 points and after 97.8 points in June.

The release of these statistics comes as the US Federal Reserve begins its monetary policy meeting on Tuesday. The market is anticipating a status quo on rates at the end of this meeting, but is hoping to have indications of the first rate cut still expected for September.

Airbus and L’Oréal to watch

Investors are waiting for the publications this Tuesday after the close of L’Oréal and Airbus. In the United States, Microsoft will publish this evening the results of the fourth quarter of its 2023-2024 financial year.

In terms of today’s publications, Rexel returned 6.8% this Tuesday after having tightened its sales and margin target ranges for 2024 downwards.

Pernod Ricard (-2%) and Rémy Cointreau (-0.1%) lost ground, penalized by the disappointing publications of comparables, namely the British Diageo and the Italian Campari.

SMCP closed up 7.3%, driven by an upgrade of Oddo BHF’s recommendation to “outperform”.

On other markets, the euro lost 0.1% against the dollar to $1.0808. Oil declined. The September contract on North Sea Brent returned 1.4% to $77.98 per barrel, while the same-term contract on WTI listed in New York fell 1.5% to $74.64 per barrel.