The Paris Bourse lost almost 0.3% around 7185 points, penalized by the decline in banking stocks, with BNP Paribas and Crédit Agricole in particular down 1.5%.

The Paris index still seems to be digesting the recent announcements by central banks, with the ECB raising rates (as expected) and the Fed announcing that it would continue to tighten monetary policy in the light of disappointing inflation figures.

For the week as a whole, the CAC is currently down by nearly 3%.

Against this gloomy backdrop, investors took note of a number of statistics this morning. The PMI flash composite HCOB index of global activity in France fell from 51.2 in May to 47.3 in June, slipping well below the 50 mark that demarcates growth from contraction, for the first time since January.

'Marking the end of four consecutive months of expansion, the index signals a moderate downturn in French private sector activity, albeit the strongest since February 2021', points out S&P Global, which collects the data.

In addition, the HCOB composite PMI flash index of overall activity in the eurozone fell from 52.8 in May to 50.3 in June, its lowest level since January, signalling a very sharp slowdown in the region's economic growth in June.

With two consecutive quarters of GDP contraction in Q4 2022 and Q1 2023, the Eurozone has entered a technical recession.

And while a rebound is expected in Q2, investors are well aware that the mounting negative effects of monetary tightening are likely to cause growth to falter thereafter.

The US economy, too, is under threat of recession from fears that the Fed's repeated interest rate hikes will penalize activity.

The Conference Board, a New York-based employers' organization, warned yesterday that it expects a recessionary episode in the US between the third quarter of 2023 and the first quarter of 2024.

In French company news, Capgemini announced that it had signed an agreement to acquire BTC Corporation in Japan, to 'strengthen its cloud and digital capabilities in the country to meet demand for services across the entire value chain'.

Vallourec announces the signature, on June 19, of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Saudi Arabian Ministry of Investment (MISA) for the expansion of its activities in Saudi Arabia, including the increase of its local presence and the deployment of its latest innovations in energy transition, additive manufacturing and the circular economy.

As part of the development of its public works/water sector, Samse announces that it is in advanced and exclusive discussions with Gemoise, a distributor of materials for construction and public works.

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