The Paris Stock Exchange, driven by luxury, ended sharply up 1.32% on Friday December 15, returning to a level not seen since the end of last April, also reassured by the resilience of American economic activity.
The flagship CAC 40 index gained 98.03 points and closed above the threshold of 7,500 points for the first time since April 25. The day before, the Parisian coast had finished in a slight decline (− 0.10%), at 7,428.52 points. Over the week, the Parisian rating increased by 2.46%, its fourth week of increase.
The American job market was much stronger than expected in November, with 199,000 job creations, up from 150,000 in October, according to figures published by the Labor Department. “This figure supports the idea that the inflation trajectory is under control”comments David Kruk, head of trading at La Financière de l’Echiquier.
As for the unemployment rate, it is falling, to 3.7%, after an increase in October. The markets reacted well to this publication because it reinforces the “goldilocks scenario” dune “inflation trajectory under control and moderate growth”according to David Kruk.
“Rates expand incredibly in November and early December”
For Christophe Boucher, investment director of ABN AMRO Investment Solutions, the American employment figures are indeed “consistent with a soft landing scenario” of the American economy, “and is not expected to prompt the Federal Reserve to lower interest rates in the near future”. In response, on the mandatory market, sovereign debt rates started to rise again. The yield on the ten-year French government bond stood at 2.83% around 5:55 p.m., compared to 2.73% at Thursday’s close.
For Mr. Kruk, this rebalancing is normal given that “rates expand incredibly in November and early December”. For many analysts, the markets got a little excited after the latest falling inflation figures in the United States, anticipating several cuts in key interest rates from the American central bank.
Vivendi’s progress
Luxury stocks, a heavyweight on the Parisian market, rose significantly on Friday, benefiting from evidence of the resilience of the American economy, an important market for the sector. The largest capitalization on the Paris Stock Exchange, LVMH, experienced the largest increase of the session: + 3.28% to 739.10 euros. Kering took 2.58%, to 413.80 euros, and Hermès 1.48%, to 1,982.40 euros.
The Euronext scientific committee, independent of the management of the stock exchange operator, decided that the payments specialist Worldline would leave the CAC40 on December 18, to make way for the media giant Vivendi, which had left the flagship index only six months earlier. Worldline shares lost 1.27%, to 15.55 euros, the biggest drop for the values of the Paris Stock Exchange index. Vivendi’s stock increased by 2.42%, to 8.89 euros.