The Paris stock market is stable at around 8,100 points, despite gains by Schneider Electric (+1.8%) and Capgemini (+1.4%).

As a reminder, these two companies announced last night that they had worked together to launch the Energy Command Center, an integrated platform designed to optimize building energy management.

American giant Nvidia, now the world's third-largest market capitalization behind Microsoft and Apple, is expected to shine again today, after significantly outperforming expectations with its quarterly results, which benefited from strong demand for its AI-dedicated graphics chips.

The Californian group's stock, already up 91% since the start of the year, climbed a further 6% in electronic trading.

Nvidia did not disappoint with its quarterly results', says Christopher Dembik, investment strategy consultant at Pictet Asset Management.

'It's been a long time since the global economy has been so dependent on a single company', the analyst recalls.

For the stock markets, Nvidia should continue to be a must-have this year, and probably in the years to come", he adds.

Some professionals note, however, that the semiconductor manufacturer's tour de force is not translating into as explosive a reaction on the markets as in the past.

Admittedly, Nvidia continues to exceed expectations, but not as spectacularly as its last publication in February, which sent its share price soaring by more than 16% the following day", point out analysts at Deutsche Bank.

Nvidia's performance does, however, overshadow the concerns arising from the minutes of the Federal Reserve's latest meeting, which contained a number of unpleasant surprises.

While Chairman Jerome Powell repeatedly declared that the central bank's next move "would not be a rate hike" (and therefore obviously a rate cut), some of his colleagues don't seem to see it that way.

For these FOMC members, nothing is off-limits, and they have no hesitation in raising rates if necessary.

In short, these minutes show that the Fed's policy committee will probably have to wait until the end of the summer before cutting the key rate.

According to the CME Group's FedWatch barometer, the probability of a rate hike in September is now estimated at 50.3%, compared with 51.6% yesterday, but remains above the 50% mark.

On the bond front, the yield on ten-year Treasuries was little changed by these comments, still hovering around the 4.44% mark, as it has done since the start of the week.

In Europe, the HCOB flash composite PMI index of overall activity in the eurozone rose from 51.7 in April to 52.3 in May, signalling a third consecutive monthly increase in the region's private sector activity levels.

In France, the HCOB composite flash PMI index of overall activity fell for the first time since the start of the year, dropping from 50.5 in April to 49.1 in May, and thus returning to contraction territory after a brief return to growth.

In French company news, Stellantis announced on Thursday the launch of the second tranche of its share buyback program for 2024, up to a maximum of one billion euros.

The Mauritian Prime Minister's Office has awarded the Thales-led consortium the contract to set up a national identity system. The aim of this project is to improve the services offered to citizens and reinforce the security of their identity.

Finally, Lagardère announces the appointment of Grégoire Castaing as Group Executive Vice President (DGA) in charge of Finance and member of the Executive Committee, effective June 3.

Copyright (c) 2024 CercleFinance.com. All rights reserved.