The CAC40 is on course to close the first session of 2023 at its zenith: the index is up +1.7% at 6,584 (erasing the air pocket at the end of last Friday's session), driven by the automotive sector and Total Energies.... and the Euro-Stoxx50 advances +1.5%.
Volumes are skeletal (1.2 billion euros in 8 hours of trading) in the absence of US and British operators, on vacation this Monday.

2022 was the worst year for stock markets in over 10 years (the annual decline reached 9.5%), but it was bonds in particular that suffered their worst decline in 150 years.

As regards equities alone, the S&P 500 had one of its worst performances since 1932, 1937 and 2002: it gave up over 19% last year, and the Nasdaq -33%.

While the markets ended 2022 better than they began, uncertainty remains high, particularly in view of the growing signs of a global economic slowdown. All eyes will be on inflation, which now seems close to its peak, if it has not already reached it.

The easing of inflationary pressures could lead the major central banks to slow down or even end their cycle of monetary tightening, which could mean that risk assets could regain some of their appeal.

Traders present have already been able to take note of several statistics this morning.
The contraction in European manufacturing activity eased slightly in December, but the economic situation remains uncertain, according to the final results of S&P Global's monthly survey of purchasing managers.

Its S&P Global Composite Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) rose to 49.2 last month, from 48.3 in November, highlighting a slowdown in contraction towards the end of 2022.

For its part, the PMI for the eurozone's manufacturing industry remained unchanged below 50 in December 2022, but rose slightly from 47.1 in November to 47.8, highlighting a slowdown in contraction towards the end of the year.

In Germany, the contraction of the manufacturing sector was slightly less severe, according to the S&P Global / BME PMI index: it stood at 47.1, a level admittedly lower than the unchanged 50, but compared with 46.2 the previous month.

The surveyors point out that an improvement in supply has contributed to a sharp reduction in price pressures, and that the manufacturers questioned were less pessimistic about their prospects for the year ahead.

Employment is also at an all-time high across the Rhine: according to provisional calculations by the Federal Statistics Office, the average number of people in employment in Germany rose sharply by 589,000 (+1.3%) year-on-year, to around 45.6 million.

This number therefore marks a record since German unification in 1990, exceeding the previous record for 2019 by 292,000 (+0.6%). As a reminder, the coronavirus crisis had halted the upward trend in employment that had prevailed for over 14 years the following year.

Destatis also estimates that the number of ILO unemployed in Germany has fallen by 209,000 (-13.6%) to an annual average of 1.3 million in 2022, representing a 0.5 point drop in the unemployment rate to 2.8% of the working population.

Last figure of the day, according to data from the automotive platform, with 158,027 registrations, the French market for new passenger cars was stable (-0.06% unadjusted) last month compared with December 2021 (registrations down -7.5% for the year as a whole).

In company news, Atos jumps +19% on rumors of Airbus interest in its digital transformation subsidiary, Evidian.

Navya announced on Friday evening the resignation with immediate effect of its CEO Sophie Desormière, leading to a sharp rise in its share price on the Paris Bourse on Monday morning.

Société Générale Group has announced that it will legally merge its two retail banking networks in France, Société Générale and Groupe Crédit du Nord, on January 1, 2023. SG is now the Group's new retail bank in France.

Finally, Valneva announced, at the very end of last week, new mixed data on the use of its inactivated Covid-19 vaccine, VLA2001, as a heterologous booster. In this study, the booster dose generated only a marginal increase in neutralizing antibody response.


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