(News Bulletin 247) – The Paris Stock Exchange gained a little ground for its first session of 2025. The CAC 40 closed up 0.18% this Thursday evening.

The CAC 40 closes this inaugural session of 2025 up 0.18% at 7,385.01 points, not far from its highest of the day at 7,399.25 points.

However, the midday trend suggested the worst. The Parisian index lost nearly 1.3% at the height of the session, weighed down by poor macroeconomic data. In the morning, investors became aware of a deterioration in manufacturing activity in France in December.

A difficult start to the stock market year in China

The final HCOB PMI index for the manufacturing sector in France stood at 41.9 in December, after 43.1 in November. This is its lowest level since May 2020. Remember that the threshold of 50 marks the border between expansion and contraction of activity.

“The French industrial crisis is worsening. The manufacturing PMI once again sent negative signals in December,” notes Tariq Kamal Chaudhry, economist at the Hamburg Commercial Bank.

A little earlier in the day, operators had learned of a disappointing statistic in China, also on the manufacturing activity front. The manufacturing PMI index calculated by Caixin/S&P Global actually contracted by one point in December, to 50.5 points compared to 51.5 points in November. The Chinese markets welcomed today’s statistics, the Chinese benchmark index CSI 300, which brings together shares listed in Shanghai and Shenzhen, fell by 2.9% this Thursday to 3,820.40 points, and recorded its worst start to the year since 2016, according to Bloomberg.

On Wall Street, the mood is on the rise. For this first session of 2025, the major American indices are moving in the green, despite the decline of Tesla, sanctioned for having announced a drop in its annual deliveries in 2024, for the first time in more than 10 years, according to Bloomberg . Operators also took note of the decline in weekly unemployment registrations, to 211,000, an eight-month low.

Airbus on the rise

Strongest increase in the CAC 40 this Thursday evening, Airbus rose 3.5%, supported by a positive note from Bank of America, which renewed its purchase recommendation, expecting strong deliveries in December.

Totalenergies occupies second place on the podium (+2.2%), supported by the rebound in oil prices. The price of a barrel of Brent from the North Sea, for delivery in March, jumped by 2.2% to $76.31, while its American equivalent, a barrel of West Texas Intermediate (WTI), for delivery in February , rose 2.5% to 73.54 dollars. On the SBF 120, Viridien (formerly CGG) gained 10.1%, Esso jumped 7.2% while Vallourec and Technip Energies increased by 1.2% and 0.8% respectively.

Luxury stocks, which are very exposed to Chinese demand, were, on the other hand, under pressure this Thursday. Hermès lost 0.9%, Kering -1% when LVMH managed to return to balance.

On the foreign exchange market, the euro plunged 0.9% to 1.0255 dollars, falling to the ground after the publication of manufacturing activity at half mast in the euro zone in December.