The Paris stock market lost almost 0.7% this morning, around 7380 points, penalized by STMicro (down 3.6%) and URW (-2.5%) in particular.

Across the Atlantic, Wall Street is gearing up for a decisive week marked by the publication of quarterly results by several heavyweights in the US economy, which will set the tone for the sessions to come.

The major US banks will be in the spotlight during this first week of the earnings season, with publications by Citi, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan and Wells Fargo scheduled for Wednesday, followed by those of Bank of America and Morgan Stanley the next day.

Comments from these leading financial institutions will provide investors with an interesting read on the current state of the economy, consumer spending and the economic outlook to be expected in the USA.

According to FactSet, earnings of US companies making up the S&P 500 index are expected to have risen by an average of 11.7% year-on-year in Q4, their biggest increase since the end of 2021.

As we saw last Friday with the solid US employment figures, good statistics are no longer enough to push the market higher, as they are synonymous with less monetary easing.

The earnings 'season' will therefore be a test of whether the New York Stock Exchange can regain upward momentum, bearing in mind that the S&P 500 is currently trading at 21.5 times earnings, well above its ten-year historical average (18.2).

The reopening of the earnings season will not, however, completely overshadow what is currently at stake on the other side of the Atlantic, between uncertainties over Donald Trump's future policies, the reawakening of inflation and tensions over bond yields.

U.S. long yields hit new one-year highs on Friday in the wake of the latest jobs report, which proved far stronger than expected.

The earnings season also begins in a climate of growing commercial uncertainty, a week ahead of the inauguration of Donald Trump, who will officially become the 47th President of the United States next Monday.

During his campaign, he stated his intention to tax Chinese goods by up to 60% and goods from other countries by 10%-20%.

The implementation of long-lasting 'universal' tariffs would be a negative factor for equities, particularly for retailers, automakers, technology companies, semiconductor manufacturers and certain industrial groups.

In view of these uncertainties and less attractive valuations, investors are wondering whether the time has not come to take profits on US stocks, worried that a major correction could occur in the months ahead.

In a note published last week, Goldman Sachs strategists estimated a 30% probability of a fall in world stock markets of at least 10% within three months, and more than 20% within 12 months.

Against this backdrop, gold is regaining some of its appeal in the eyes of investors, taking the yellow metal to levels close to its all-time highs reached more than two months ago.

Oil prices also confirmed their upward trend, as the Biden administration decided on Friday to impose new sanctions on the Russian energy sector.

This morning, Brent crude oil is still up by almost 1.5% at $81.1 a barrel.
In French company news, bioMérieux announces that it has reached an agreement to acquire SpinChip Diagnostics, a Norwegian company in which the French in vitro diagnostics specialist has held a 20% minority stake since March 2024.

Sanofi reports that the Chinese NMPA has approved its Sarclisa, in combination with pomalidomide and dexamethasone (Pd regimen) for the treatment of relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma in adults who have received at least one prior treatment.

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