The Paris Bourse ended the session down 1.07%, at 7318 points, penalized in particular by the decline in the luxury goods sector, with -3.5% for Kering and -2.8% for LVMH.

Investors also had to contend with the speech made today by ECB President Christine Largarde on the sidelines of the Davos forum. She dashed hopes of a rate cut in the spring, and instead spoke of a "probable" rate cut... in June.

As a result, the bond segment took off, with 10-year US T-Bonds climbing (+5pts) to 4.11%, while Bunds of the same maturity tightened by 5.7pts to 2.28%.

On the statistics front, US retail sales continued to make solid progress in December: the Commerce Department reported a 0.6% rise last month, whereas economists were expecting only a 0.4% increase. And year-on-year, the increase at the end of December came to 5.6%, well above the 5.1% estimated.

Industrial production also came as a surprise: in total contradiction with the New York Fed's Empire State index published on Tuesday (which showed a sharp decline, and even the lowest since May 2020), the Federal Reserve reported an unexpected +0.1% increase, thanks to the strong performance of consumer goods manufacturing.

In detail, production of consumer goods rose by 0.2%, while that of raw materials increased by 0.1%.

In Europe, investors learned that the eurozone's annual inflation rate stood at 2.9% in December 2023, according to Eurostat, compared with 2.4% in November (1 year earlier, it was 9.2%).

The UK consumer price index rose by 4% in the 12 months to December 2023, an annual rate up from 3.9% in November, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

Despite reassuring inflation figures and much weaker activity than in the US, the probability of a rate cut in March is now only 29%, down from 43% before the weekend.

Brent crude oil is down 0.2%, at around $77.4 a barrel, and the euro is down 0.2% against the greenback, at $1.085/euro. Gold is down 2.1% to 2010$/oz.

In news from French companies, Renault Group reports a strong increase in worldwide sales: +9% compared with 2022, and a total of 2,235,345 vehicles for the year.

Finally, Thales reports that the European Commission has signed a Grant Agreement to launch the LATACC (Land Tactical Collaborative Combat) project, coordinated by Thales, to improve the cooperative capabilities of European coalition forces.

Deezer and Fnac Darty renew their partnership for a further 3 years. Since 2017, Deezer and Fnac Darty have given their joint customers access to a universe of music services.

Copyright (c) 2024 CercleFinance.com. All rights reserved.