(News Bulletin 247) – The CAC 40 is advancing at mid-session this Friday, while investors are eagerly awaiting the intervention of the President of the Federal Reserve this afternoon.

The Paris Stock Exchange is not tense before the big event of the week. The CAC 40 is up 0.6% at mid-session this Friday, at 7,568.50 points. Over the week as a whole, the Paris index has so far gained 1.6%.

The market is moving forward peacefully, especially while waiting for the intervention, this afternoon, of the chairman of the American Federal Reserve (Fed), Jerome Powell, at the Jackson Hole symposium in Wyoming. This meeting is usually closely followed by investors to detect signs regarding the evolution of the monetary policy of the American central bank.

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An expected meeting

Jerome Powell will be all the more scrutinized as the markets, in light of the latest economic statistics, are betting on significant reductions in key rates. According to the CME Group’s Fedwatch tool, investors are 100% counting on a reduction in September, and around 75% on a reduction of 25 basis points (0.25 percentage points). For the whole of 2024, the markets anticipate 100 basis points of rate reduction.

“For investors, the big question is to what extent Powell validates expectations of a rate cut in September, and whether he gives an indication of the magnitude of that cut,” Deutsche Bank summarises.

In terms of values, Accor (+2.1%) and Stellantis (+1.8%) are leading the CAC 40. The falls are few and limited, with the bottom performer Capgemini losing 0.4%.

In Zurich, Nestlé reported a 1.7% decline after announcing a change of CEO. The group had lowered its annual sales forecast last month.

On other markets, the euro gained 0.1% against the dollar to $1.1123. Oil advanced. The October contract on North Sea Brent advanced 1% to $78.02 per barrel while the same-term contract on WTI listed in New York gained 1.1% to $73.83 per barrel.