Stock markets experienced a wave of euphoria between 1:30PM and 4PM, with anticipation of a "bright green" reopening for US indices... and that indeed came to pass.
But the rally did not last, and surprisingly, the S&P500 slipped back into negative territory, while the NASDAQ-100 underwent an unusual reversal, swinging from +1.4% (25,600)  to -0.5% (25,115).

The final sessions of 2025 were disappointing, marked by sluggishness and a lack of initiative. However, 2026 is off to a better start with a flurry of record highs across Europe, despite the pullback seen since 4PM.
The Paris stock exchange (+0.3%), which had reopened in the red, quickly reversed course and extended its gains, even climbing back above 8,200 for the first time since November 13 (a 7-week interval): at around 4PM, the CAC was within 1.4% of its all-time high of 8,314 points (session of November 13, 2025)... before falling back to around 8,170.

The Parisian index is up 0.7%, around 8,205 points, buoyed by STMicro (+4%), Airbus (+2.5%), and Safran (+3%).

But the CAC40 is not alone in showing strong momentum: the DAX is retesting its historic highs from October 9/10, and the E-Stoxx50 (+0.9% at 5,850) is smashing its records from November 12/13 (closing at 5,787 on 11/12, intraday zenith at 5,818 on 11/13).

The FTSE also set a new record in London, surpassing the 10,000-point mark (+0.9% at 10,045) for the first time, while the MIB-30 saw Milan's exchange (+1%) approach 45,400.

Wall Street is also starting 2026 on a strong note, with the S&P500 up 0.7% (flirting with 6,900), a slightly neglected Dow Jones (+0.25%), and a Nasdaq-100 that shot out of the gate, driven by Micron at +7.8%, Intel +7.5%, ASML +7.1%, Western Digital +5.6%, ARM +5, AMD +4.5%, and Nvidia also up +2.6%.
The "SOXX" is already surging by +4.5% (around $315), its best performance since November 24, and the closing zenith of $316.3 on December 10 is now within reach.
What optimism for the "tech" sector!
For 2026, strategists still expect robust, if uneven, global growth, with the United States and China as the main engines.

Risk assets are expected to keep climbing (even surpassing expectations this Friday with the "semis"), as is artificial intelligence, but questions remain about current valuation levels.

The financial world will be watching closely for Jerome Powell's departure, and especially for the identity of his successor at the helm of the Fed.

On the economic front, taming inflation and the trajectory of central bank monetary policy will be key factors for markets.

The year will also be marked by the US midterm elections, as well as a number of ongoing issues that continue to worry the international community: Sudan, Russia/Ukraine, China/Taiwan, Israel/Palestine, US/China trade war...

After a champagne start to the year on January 2, trading activity could be limited next week ahead of the new earnings season, set to begin by January 12.
On the data front, the HCOB PMI index for eurozone manufacturing, produced by S&P Global, sank further into contraction territory, falling from 49.6 in November to 48.8 in December, indicating a further deterioration in the sector's outlook.

Meanwhile, the HCOB PMI index for French manufacturing, also calculated by S&P Global, moved back into expansion and even showed the strongest improvement in conditions since June 2022.
It rebounded from 47.8 in November to 50.7 in December, contradicting the broader European context and especially the poor level of car sales in France in December.

Indeed, in December, the French new passenger car market shrank by 5.84% compared to the same period a year earlier, to 172,927 registrations, despite one extra business day.
As for light commercial vehicles, 33,434 were registered last month, a very slight increase of 0.65%. Combining passenger and light commercial vehicles, the French market saw a decline of 4.85%, to 206,361 in December.

On the bond market, 2026 is off to a rough start: T-Bonds are sharply higher, with the 10-year yield up 4bps at 4.19%, and the 30-year up 4bps to 4.87%.
Europe is faring no better, with the German 10-year Bund yield rising 3.8bps to 2.900%, the French OAT of the same maturity up 5bps at 3.610%, and things are even worse in Italy where BTPs are up 6.3bps at 3.575%: a deterioration that equity markets have largely ignored.

Meanwhile, the euro, which gained over 14% against the dollar last year, is slipping against the greenback (-0.05% to around 1.1745).
The big winner of 2025, gold, is down slightly this evening to around 4,325, and silver is off -1.5% to 71.7$, remaining below the 75/76$ seen last Friday.

North Sea Brent crude is down 1% to just under $60, while WTI is faring even worse, down -1.3% to around $56.7.

In French corporate news, Michelin announced Friday that it has reached agreements to acquire two American specialists in coated fabrics and technical textiles, aiming to strengthen its polymer composites activities by expanding into new markets.

Voltalia announced the start of construction of the strategic Artemisya complex—storage (100 megawatts / 200 megawatt-hours) and wind (100 megawatts)—in Uzbekistan, the first such facility in Central Asia to combine solar, wind, and storage.

Casino announced the sale, effective today, of its subsidiary 3C Cameroun to 2S Retail. 3C Cameroun operates 7 stores under the "BAO Cash & Carry" banner, including 5 company-owned outlets in Douala and 2 franchised stores in Nkongsamba and Limbe.

Valneva and the Serum Institute of India (SII), part of the Cyrus Poonawalla Group, announced they have decided to terminate their licensing agreement for Valneva's single-shot chikungunya vaccine, allowing Valneva to recover full rights to the product.

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