(News Bulletin 247) – The Paris Stock Exchange is trading on a cautious note at mid-session, before the publication of producer prices in the United States this Tuesday afternoon.

The Paris Stock Exchange does not want to take any risks before the publication, this Tuesday afternoon, of data relating to prices in the United States.

The CAC 40 is therefore down 0.29% at 7,229.62 points on Tuesday at mid-session. Transaction volumes are contained in this summer trough, with 383 million euros exchanged since the opening. The day before, the Parisian index had already opted for caution and lost 0.26% at the end of this observation session.

Shortly before lunchtime, traders became aware of a sharp deterioration in consumer sentiment in Germany. The index measured by the Zew economic research institute stood at 19.2 points in early August, compared with 41.8 in July, when the Reuters consensus had anticipated a less marked decline of 32 points.

Producer prices in the crosshairs

Operators are also on their guard before the publication of producer prices at 2:30 p.m. for the month of July. This data sounds like a foretaste of the statistical highlight of this week, namely the inflation figures which will be published this Wednesday.

The content of the inflation figures could indeed give an indication of the state of health of the American economy. And therefore of the intentions of the American Federal Reserve in terms of rates for its meeting in September.

“Given how traders reacted to last week’s jobless claims data, Wednesday’s July US CPI and Thursday’s retail sales figures will be key,” says Pepperstone’s Dilin Wu.

“I think if inflation is weaker than expected, say below 0.2%, and retail sales beat expectations, a 25 basis point (0.25 percentage point) cut at the next Fed meeting becomes more plausible. This could encourage traders to move more freely into risk assets in relatively stable market conditions,” the strategist continues.

OPEC less optimistic about demand for black gold

In corporate news, Valneva is up 4.4%. The laboratory confirmed its annual outlook after returning to profit in the first half.

On the foreign exchange market, the euro is down slightly by 0.2% at 1.0919 dollars. Oil prices are in the red in the wake of a slight downward revision of OPEC’s forecasts on demand growth.

“This adjustment was influenced by falling demand in China, where declining consumption and a struggling real estate market have dampened economic activity,” explains Li Xing Gan of Exness.

The price of a barrel of North Sea Brent for delivery in October fell by 0.3% to $82.05, while that of WTI for delivery in the same month fell by 0.2% to $79.92.