(News Bulletin 247) – The Paris Stock Exchange limited its decline this Thursday evening, after a reassuring statistic on the American employment front. The CAC 40 fell 0.26% to 7,274.45 points.

It was a do-or-die situation. And in the end, it was an undisguised sense of relief that accompanied the afternoon’s discussions in the wake of a better-than-expected employment indicator in the United States.

Weekly jobless claims were indeed lower than feared. They fell by 17,000 to 233,000, which is well below the 240,000 claims expected by the consensus.

“The number of unemployment benefit applications was expected to fall from 249,000 to 240,000, but instead the figure was marginally lower (233,000),” notes Florian Ielpo, head of macroeconomic research at Lombard Odier IM.

The CAC 40, which lost more than 1% below 7,200 points at mid-session, contained its decline to -0.26% to close at 7,247.45 points this Thursday evening.

It must be said that this report was expected not without a great deal of anxiety. Investors remain stunned by the disappointment over the official employment figures for July, which contributed to the wave of panic on the markets at the start of the week.

However, we should not cry victory too quickly, warns Florian Ielpo: “It is difficult to read a significant message in these data. This latest figure remains consistent with the recent upward trend in requests for allocation: the enigma of the Sahm rule therefore remains unsolved.”

The “Sahm ​​rule” establishes a link between the unemployment rate and the risk of recession in the United States. It assumes that the American economy enters into recession when the average of the last three months of the unemployment rate is higher by 0.5 percentage points (50 basis points) or more than its lowest level of the last twelve months.

“This is puzzling and could weigh negatively on market sentiment for a few more days,” the specialist continues.

At the close of European markets, the Dow Jones rose 1.3% while the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq jumped 1.9% the day after a mixed session. Corporate publications also livened up the session. Eli Lilly rose another 8% after raising its 2024 outlook on the success of its diabetes and obesity treatments.

Little business news in France

On the French companies side, the news remains very sparse. In Europe, however, publications are coming thick and fast, including that of the defense group Rheinmetall (+2.9%), which confirmed its annual objectives after a solid first half.

Outside of publications, Vusiongroup (-0.22%) announced the signing of a contract with Ace Hardware, a DIY brand that is part of the American top 30.

On the currency side, the euro lost 0.1% against the dollar to $1.0909. On the oil price side, they recovered some color. The October contract on North Sea Brent gained 0.7% to $78.91 per barrel, while the September contract on WTI listed in New York gained 1.2% to $76.14 per barrel.