The Paris stock market was down by almost 0.5% this morning, to 7,730 points, penalized in particular by declines in Legrand (-2.6%), Thales and Alstom (-2.3%).

The mood in France is rather gloomy, as Bruno Le Maire, Minister of the Economy and Finance, announced this weekend that the country's growth forecasts for 2024 had been revised downwards, from 1.4% to 1%.
As a result, the government is planning 'ten billion euros in additional savings'.

After the flurry of results, statistics and monetary decisions of the past few weeks, the week ahead promises to be quieter than previous ones.

Investors are likely to be reluctant to take the initiative this Monday, as US markets remain closed for the 'Washington's Birthday' celebrations.

Nevertheless, the week in Europe promises to be lively on Thursday, with the preliminary results of S&P Global's private sector Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) surveys.

The market will also take stock of the US Federal Reserve's monetary policy with the release, on Wednesday, of the 'minutes' of the January meeting, which saw the Fed keep rates unchanged.

Expectations of a rate cut in the US have been sharply revised downwards recently in the wake of good figures on growth, employment and inflation.

Whereas at the start of the year, the market was expecting rates to fall by 175 basis points from March onwards, now only 100 basis points are expected, starting in June.

But the highlight of the week will undoubtedly come on Wednesday evening, with the publication of quarterly results from Nvidia, the spearhead of artificial intelligence (AI), whose processors power many supercomputers.

Analysts are expecting the chipmaker to exceed expectations and raise its targets, but with a gain of 46% already this year, any disappointment could result in profit-taking.

While the fourth-quarter publication season is drawing to a close, several other US heavyweights will be unveiling their performances this week, including Walmart and Home Depot.

In Europe, it's another relatively busy week with announcements to come from Air Liquide, Carrefour, Nestlé, Mercedes-Benz, AXA, Engie, Deutsche Telekom, Allianz and BASF.

In news from French companies, Stef, the group specializing in cold logistics, reports that its Board of Directors has decided to cancel 150,000 treasury shares, representing 1.15% of the share capital, which had been acquired as part of a share buyback program.

Thales announces that its SurfSAT-L solution will provide satellite communication capabilities for the F126 frigates, the largest frigates in the German Navy's fleet, capable of operating at all latitudes.

Air Liquide announces that it is investing more than 50 million euros to build an innovative new production unit in Singapore and to transform its current facilities in Malta, New York, in order to supply ultra-pure nitrogen to GlobalFoundries.

Veolia announces that, via its Hungarian subsidiary, it has signed an agreement with Uniper for the acquisition of a 430-megawatt power plant in Gönyu, northwest Hungary.



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