(News Bulletin 247) – The Paris Stock Exchange ends the week in the green, the CAC 40 closes up 0.39% at 7,600 points, driven by a luxury sector sensitive to the good Chinese statistics of the day.

Great weekend for the Paris Stock Exchange. The CAC 40 increased by 0.39% to 7,613.05 points on Friday, the day after an increase of 1.2%.

This Friday’s session was marked by good Chinese statistics. China’s gross domestic product (GDP) growth fell to 4.6% in the third quarter, a one-year low. But this figure turns out to be higher than expectations, placed at 4.5%, according to Deutsche Bank. The German bank notes that activity improved in September, estimating that GDP should have reached 5% in the ninth month of the year, compared to 3.7% in August.

Furthermore, retail sales in China, a measure of household consumption, were up 3.2% year-on-year, compared to 2.3% expected by the LSEG consensus cited by Reuters. Industrial production for the same month also exceeded expectations. These waves of economic statistics are giving a boost to the luxury sector. Remember that, according to Bank of America, Chinese household spending represents around 30% of the income of groups in the sector.

At the close in Paris, Kering gained 3.5%, LVMH rose 2.3% while Hermès advanced 1.1%. Pernod Ricard, a stock also dependent on China, gained 1.5%.

Investors also continue to digest the announcements from the European Central Bank (ECB) from the day before. The central bank lowered its rates by 25 basis points (0.25 percentage points) and its president, Christine Lagarde, gave a speech deemed accommodating by the market.

This is all good news which allowed the CAC 40 to gain 0.46% over the week. The Paris Stock Exchange is gaining strength before another very busy week of company publications. Nearly half of the members of the star index will communicate on their financial performance.

Note that on Wall Street, Netflix jumped more than 10% at the close of European markets. The video-on-demand service revealed quarterly accounts above expectations, accompanied, moreover, by an upward revision of forecasts for the fourth quarter.

The Virbac disappointment

In non-luxury stocks, Essilorluxottica gained 0.5% after revealing lower-than-expected growth in the third quarter. But the company said it expects an acceleration in the fourth quarter.

FDJ recovered 1.3% after reporting growth of 8% like-for-like in the third quarter and raising its outlook for the 2024 financial year.

On the other hand, a very difficult session for Virbac which plunged by 12.6% after also publishing disappointing activity for the third quarter.

On other markets, the euro gained 0.2% against the dollar to 1.0855 dollars. Oil is falling sharply as investors consider the scenario of a possible ceasefire in Gaza. US President Joe Biden said the death of Hamas leader Yahya Sinouar opened the opportunity for “a path to peace” in the Middle East and a “better future in Gaza, without Hamas “.

The December contract on North Sea Brent fell 2.1% to $72.87 per barrel while the November contract on WTI listed in New York fell 2.3% to $69.04 per barrel.