The contraction in Paris persists, with the CAC 40 slipping 0.2% this morning to around 8,050 points, setting the stage for what could be a seventh consecutive session of decline.
Among the biggest losers today are Thales (-1.5%), closely followed by Sanofi and Eurofins Scientific (each down 1.3%).
As the quarterly earnings season draws to a close, markets are contending with high valuation levels, a lack of new catalysts, and concerns over a potential speculative bubble in artificial intelligence. The result? The prospect of significant profit-taking--and a corresponding market correction--has prompted investors to adopt a cautious stance.
Investor sentiment further deteriorated yesterday following comments from the heads of several major American investment banks, who warned that a Wall Street correction has become inevitable within the next 12 to 24 months.
The case of Palantir, the predictive AI specialist, is particularly striking. Despite the Denver-based group reporting quarterly results that beat expectations and raising its annual targets on Monday evening, its stock fell by nearly 8% yesterday, hit by profit-taking after quadrupling in value since January 1.
Futures contracts currently indicate a flat opening for major U.S. markets.
Worried that the ongoing consolidation could deepen, market participants may seek to reduce the risk profile of their portfolios and shift towards safer assets.
On the data front, French manufacturing output rebounded in September (+0.9% after -1% in August), as did overall industrial production (+0.8% after -0.9% the previous month), according to seasonally and calendar-adjusted figures from Insee.
Meanwhile, France's HCOB composite PMI fell from 48.1 in September to 47.7 in October, marking its lowest level since last February and signaling a fourteenth consecutive monthly decline in private sector activity.
In the eurozone, the HCOB composite PMI saw a marked rebound in October (52.5) compared to September (51.2), reaching its highest level since May 2023 and indicating an acceleration in overall regional activity.
In Germany, industrial orders posted a slightly stronger-than-expected rebound in September, thanks in part to renewed activity in the automotive sector, according to figures released Wednesday by the Federal Statistical Office.
The results of the ADP employment survey, due around lunchtime, will be closely watched, especially as the monthly jobs report from the Department of Labor--one of the most closely followed economic indicators--will not be released on Friday due to the ongoing government shutdown that continues to paralyze U.S. federal agencies.
The ISM services index, due this afternoon, will also be more closely monitored than usual, as it will provide further insight into current business conditions across the Atlantic.
Economic indicators will not be the only reference points for investors in the coming days. They will also be analyzing results from several major listed companies, including Arm, AstraZeneca, McDonald's, and Qualcomm.
On the Forex market, the euro is down 0.5% against the greenback, trading at 1.147 USD, after consecutively breaking below the 1.16 and 1.15 thresholds in recent days, returning to three-month lows against the U.S. dollar.
On the bond market, government bond yields are stable. The ten-year German Bund stands at 2.65%, while the equivalent French OAT is at 3.44%.
Awaiting the release of weekly U.S. oil inventory data this afternoon, Brent crude is up 0.5% in London, at 64.7 USD per barrel.
In French corporate news, Rubis reported a 3% drop in revenue for the third quarter of 2025, with a 1% decline in retail-marketing and a 17% decrease in support-services within its core energy distribution business.
Bouygues posted group net profit of 675 million euros for the first nine months of 2025, weighed down by the exceptional contribution on large companies' profits in France. Excluding this, profit would have risen by 7% to 735 million euros.
Eutelsat announced the appointment of Sébastien Rouge as Chief Financial Officer and member of the group executive committee, reporting to CEO Jean-François Fallacher. The appointment will take effect on February 1, 2026.
Finally, Oxford Nanopore Technologies and bioMérieux have announced the launch of AmPORE-TB, a research-use-only sequencing solution designed to rapidly identify antibiotic-resistant tuberculosis.
