(News Bulletin 247) – The Parisian index closed lower on Tuesday, cooled by the words of Donald Trump who threatens to increase customs duties on products from China, and to impose them on those imported from Canada and the Mexico.

Complicated day at the Paris Stock Exchange. The CAC 40 ended Tuesday with a sharp decline of 0.87% to 7,194.51 points, close to its lowest of the day at 7,185.49 points.

The Parisian index was under pressure after new declarations from Donald Trump on an increase in customs duties which would be effective as soon as he takes office in January.

He wants to impose customs duties of 25% on all products from Mexico and Canada and increase those for products imported from China by 10%. Donald Trump justifies these trade retaliatory measures in retaliation for illegal immigration, and drug trafficking and in particular Fentayl, a powerful opioid which is wreaking havoc in the United States.

This threat weighs on Stellantis which suffered the biggest drop in the Parisian index (-4.8%) since the automobile manufacturer produces vehicles intended for the American market in its factories located in Mexico.

A confident American consumer

On the statistical front, investors noted an improvement in American consumer confidence in November. According to the Conference Board’s monthly survey, the index stood at 111.7 points this month, compared to 109.6 in October.

“Despite improving consumer confidence, expectations for a possible interest rate cut by the Federal Reserve at the end of the year remain largely unchanged. The likelihood of a 25 basis point cut (0 .25 percentage point) is around 53%, reflecting a market still divided on the next step in monetary policy,” said Quasar Elizundia, strategist at Pepperstone.

“However, recent economic data fuels the idea that the normalization process could be completed in the first half of 2025,” continues the specialist. It is therefore in this context that investors will learn about the traditional Minutes of the American Federal Reserve, at 8:00 p.m. French time.

Amundi still under pressure

On the value side, Trigano gained a little more than 3% supported by its annual results, which are notably marked by a “record” operating result.

Amundi, on the other hand, returned 5.3%, penalized by JP Morgan and Exane BNP Paribas who lowered their recommendation to neutral on the stock, citing the uncertainties linked to distribution in Italy with the UniCredit and Banco BPM merger project, , according to information from Reuters.

Lighton jumped 12.3% for its first steps as a company listed on Euronext Growth.

On the foreign exchange market, the euro fell by 0.2% against the greenback to 1.0477 dollars. On the oil side, the January contract on Brent from the North Sea gained 0.5% to 72.86 dollars per barrel while that of the same maturity on WTI listed in New York gained 0.6% to 69.34 dollars per barrel.