(News Bulletin 247) – The Paris Stock Exchange closes lower, the day after a rising session. Investors are still monitoring the latest developments linked to the political crisis after Sébastien Lecornu ruled out the risk of dissolution.

The Paris Stock Exchange takes a break this Thursday, October 9, the day after a gain of more than 1%. Its flagship index, the CAC 40, closed down 0.23% at 8,041.36 points, after crossing 8,100 points during the session.

The Parisian market may have been weighed down by Wall Street, which is struggling a little this Thursday after pushing back its records several times. Shortly after the European close, the S&P 500 lost 0.22%.

Investors continued to follow political news in France closely. On Wednesday evening, the resigning Prime Minister, Sébastien Lecornu, delivered several announcements resulting from the consultations he carried out to find a government (and a budget).

While waiting for a new Prime Minister…

The head of government explained that his last chance mission had been completed and that the President of the Republic, Emmanuel Macron, should be able to appoint a new Prime Minister “within 48 hours”. Sébastien Lecornu assured that a majority of deputies wanted to avoid a new dissolution, a scenario which, according to him, “is moving away”. A draft budget will also be tabled on Monday, he added.

The ball is now in Emmanuel Macron’s court, who must lead “the final negotiations”.

“Finally, President Macron’s cabinet announced that it would present a new Prime Minister on Friday evening. This rules out for the moment the risk of early elections,” observes Deutsche Bank.

“Attention will now focus on the ability of the new Prime Minister to form a government or on the need for Macron to call legislative elections. Polymarket estimates the implicit probability of a new election by the end of the year at 51%, compared to almost 80% yesterday morning,” adds the German bank.

Waltz of leaders

On the value side, Danone closed at the top of the CAC 40 (+4.75%). According to a market specialist, this increase is due to the fact that the group published its “aid memory” – a document which gives indications before future results – for the third quarter, with positive information on the group’s revenue dynamics.

On the other side of the spectrum, Michelin fell 3.8%. The tire manufacturer gave cautious indications on its volumes during a conference call held ahead of the publication of its results.

The Clermont-Ferrand-based group is followed by LVMH (-2.8%), Hermès (-2.7%). Ferrari, which is considered by some analysts as a luxury group, is falling sharply. The title of the prancing horse brand plunged 15.4% in Milan, showing its biggest drop since 2016.

Furthermore, a waltz of managers is taking place in companies outside the CAC 40. The general director of Sopra Steria (-3.96%), Cyril Malargé, has decided to leave the group to “seize new opportunities”. Or, said more prosaically, to go and manage Alten, which gained 1.7%.

Alstom fell 0.4% as the group decided to appoint Martin Sion, executive chairman of ArianeGroup, as general manager, replacing Henri Poupart-Lafarge next April.

Sodexo (+0.3%) has for its part decided to once again separate the functions of president and general manager. CEO Sophie Bellon will remain president, while Thierry Delaporte, a former Capgemini executive, has been named general manager.

On other markets, the euro fell 0.6%, to 1.1556 dollars. Oil is falling. The December contract on North Sea Brent lost 0.9% to $65.65 per barrel while that of November on WTI listed in New York lost 0.5% to $61.97 per barrel.