Jerome Powell is dashing hopes of rate easing in the "foreseeable future", and the markets are feeling the pinch: the CAC40 (now stable) is wiping out the 0.7% gain posted at 3:30 pm (Wall Street opening).

Wall Street is looking grim: after starting the session at +0.4/+0.5%, the steam has reversed and the Dow Jones is down -0.15%, the S&P500 -0.4% and the Nasdaq -0.6%.
But the pullback that has been underway for the past 1 hour is not the only "fact of the day": the CAC's fluctuations are taking place against a backdrop of collapsing volumes on the eve of the weekend, with less than 950MnsE traded in 8 hours (compared with 1.1 to 1.2MbnE in previous sessions).
It's hard to describe such a desertion when the entire volume of a Paris session is equivalent to 1/5th of the daily trading in Apple shares alone.

The Euro-Stoxx50 is also back to square one, down +0.6%, while the DAX is down -0.1%.

In his (short) speech, the FED Chairman repeated much of what he had said at recent post-FOMC press conferences.

'Inflation has slowed but remains too high, the problem is far from completely solved, and it is not certain that the current decline in prices is sustainable.

Underlying growth is still above the historical average, which could fuel inflation: restrictive monetary conditions will therefore have to be maintained over the long term, and the FED is ready to raise rates if necessary (in other words, a rate cut is out of the question at the next FED meetings).
Tighter credit conditions are holding back the 'services' sector, job creation is slowing, and the number of hours worked is stagnating, but there are signs of a rebound in housing market activity.

Wall Street therefore seems to consider that the FED remains faithful to a 'hawkish' line which gives priority to its objective of fighting inflation.
This closes the door on a 'pivot' in the foreseeable future.

The bond market is feeling the pinch, with T-Bonds tightening +4pts to 4.272%, the 2-year jumping +7pts to 5.085% (the worst level for 17 years and 2 months) and the 30-year gaining +4pts to 4.34%.
The Dollar is benefiting, gaining 0.3% to 1.0780/E, with the Dollar Index back above 104.


In the news for French companies, JCDecaux was the biggest riser on the SBF 120 on Friday's Paris Bourse (+3.6%), Deutsche Bank having switched to buy on the stock, believing that the current price offers an interesting opportunity.

Olympique Lyonnais (OL Groupe) announced on Thursday evening the transfer of Karl Toko-Ekambi to Saudi Pro League club Abha FC, for a fee of 1.5 million euros, to which may be added 500,000 euros in bonuses.

Nacon presented its eagerly-awaited new game 'Robocop: Rogue City' on Friday, in the hope of boosting sales through to the festive season.

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