The Paris Stock Exchange fell slightly (-0.1% to 7,955 points) this morning, notably weighed on by Bureau Veritas, Edenred and Veolia, each of which fell around 1.7%. After a week full of corporate earnings announcements, the CAC is currently showing a weekly decline of about 2%.
With the earnings season coming to a close, there are no longer significant catalysts for the markets on this front. Moreover, investors are now seeing a marked deterioration in the US labor market and questions over the need for the Federal Reserve to cut rates in December.
These movements mainly reflect concerns about the high valuation levels reached by major US technology groups, especially those linked to artificial intelligence—a shift that could signal a more lasting change in investor sentiment.
"The decline clearly illustrates the market's questions about the valuation multiples reached by tech giants and the legitimacy of their stocks trading at a P/E ratio around 30x," explains Ahmad Assiri, strategist at Pepperstone.
On Thursday in New York, the Dow Jones lost 0.8%, the S&P 500 dropped 1.1%, while the Nasdaq fell 1.9%. The latter two indices ended the session near their daily lows, a technical factor that could be cause for concern.
"One could see the selling pressure as a healthy market correction, even a sort of return to reality after a phase of overconfidence fueled by very rapid gains," Ahmad Assiri tempers. "This may be an opportunity to reassess positions and adopt a more selective approach," the market analyst adds.
The session was expected to be driven by the official US employment report from the Department of Labor, but its release has been postponed indefinitely due to the ongoing federal government shutdown, now entering its 38th day—five and a half weeks—an unprecedented event in the country's history.
In terms of data, France's trade deficit widened to €6.58bn in September, up from €5.19bn the previous month, according to seasonally and calendar-adjusted data from Bercy. Meanwhile, Germany's trade surplus stood at €15.3bn in September, down from €16.9bn the previous month (revised from an initial estimate of €17.2bn).
Oil prices are in positive territory but are heading for weekly losses (-1.5%), also hit by the decline in equity markets. In London, Brent crude rose 1% to $64.2 per barrel.
Like oil, the prices of major base metals are up, with gold fully benefiting from its safe-haven status, rebounding 0.7% to around $4,010 an ounce.
On the bond market, the 10-year Bund stands at 2.67% (+1 bp), while the equivalent OAT is at 3.46% (+1 bp).
In French corporate news, Arkema reported Q3 2025 underlying EPS that was down over a half (-53.8%) at €1.04, with underlying operating income plunging 42.3% to €142m, representing a margin of 6.5%, vs. 10.3% a year earlier.
Euronext posted slightly lower adjusted EPS, down 3.4% to €1.68 for Q3 2025, while adjusted EBITDA rose 12.6% to €276.7m, with its margin improving by 1.2 point to 63.2%.
Renault Group announced the successful issuance of a Samurai bond with a nominal value of 95.2 billion yen, a three-year maturity, and a fixed coupon of 2.17%, marking its return to the Japanese bond market since 2022.
Getlink, the parent company of Eurotunnel, reported that its LeShuttle passenger service transported 153,929 tourist vehicles in October, up 4% year-on-year, but LeShuttle Freight carried 99,098 trucks, 7% less.
Finally, Airbus announced on Friday that it delivered 78 aircraft in October, a figure that marks a clear acceleration compared to recent months but also means the manufacturer will need to step up efforts to meet its annual targets.
