(CercleFinance.com) - The CAC40 falls gently into the red (-0.1% to 7,535) at 30Mn to close, in non-existent volumes (1.3bnE), after re-testing its all-time high this morning (7.580): yesterday, the Paris index set a new all-time record of 7,582 points.

The Euro-Stoxx50 remains positive (+0.05%), reflecting a high degree of optimism just hours ahead of the central banks' monetary policy decisions (Fed this evening, ECB tomorrow at noon).
The CAC40 is weighed down by Carrefour (-4%, penalized by its exposure to Argentina, which is plunging into austerity), but is kept afloat by the luxury sector, with Hermès (back up to its highs at 2,040E) and Essilor, which gains +1%.
Wall Street remains indecisive, with a stable Dow Jones, and a timid rise in the S&P and Nasdaq with +0.2% to +0.25%.

At the end of a two-day meeting of its Monetary Policy Committee (FOMC), the Fed is due to publish its statement at 8pm, before the traditional press conference by its Chairman, Jerome Powell.

For the third meeting in a row, the Washington-based institution is likely to leave rates unchanged, a stance justified by the continuing slowdown in inflation, confirmed yesterday by the latest consumer price figures.

In the eurozone, CVS industrial production figures showed a contraction of -0.7% in the eurozone and 0.5% in the EU (or -6.6% annualized), according to Eurostat, following declines of 1% and 0.8% respectively in September.

In the eurozone, production of capital goods fell by 1.4%, intermediate goods and consumer durables by 0.6%, while consumer durables rose by 0.2% and energy by 1.1%.

The yield on US 10-year government bonds fell by -4.5pts to 4.162% in the wake of yesterday's unsurprising inflation figures, while its German equivalent eased more sharply (-6pts to 2.171%), as did our OATs (-6.5pts to 2.713%) following the sharp downturn in industrial production in the Eurozone.

On the currency markets, the euro was stable at around $1.0785/euro.

On the oil front, crude prices tested a new low of $72.3 in London this morning, but Brent rebounded to $73.85 a barrel (+0.75% from a high of $74), while the US Energy Information Agency (EIA) reported a drop in inventories of 4.2 million barrels, while OPEC estimates that demand will increase by 2 million barrels a day in 2024, which will be a new all-time record.

Danske Bank's diagnosis is the opposite: "the market will remain well supplied while demand is in freefall".

In French company news, Bouygues Construction announces that it has signed a contract to build the new Trousseau hospital in the heart of the Tours metropolis, a project designed to restructure the healthcare offering and improve patient care.

Lagardère announces that its Board of Directors has unanimously decided, on the recommendation of the Nominations, Remuneration and CSR Committee, to co-opt Yannick Bolloré as a director, replacing René Ricol.

Eutelsat Group announces an exclusive distribution agreement between its Eutelsat OneWeb branch and the Libyan telecom operator RLTT, with a view to deploying high-speed, low-latency connectivity services throughout Libya.

Renault Group reports that it has sold 211 million Nissan shares, representing 5% of the Japanese group's capital, to Nissan, a transaction generating a cash flow of 764 million euros for the French automaker

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