The Paris stock market (+1.25% at 7,521) continues its bullish rally in euphoric mode, gaining +2.3% over the past week: this is the 6th week of progress without any retracement greater than 0.6%, and in the USA, the record for the most sessions without any consolidation (a term that has disappeared from the stock market vocabulary) has been beaten for the S&P500 (+0.4% at 4,607, a new all-time record) over this 6-week period.607, a new all-time record) over this 6-week period.

Investors are now only seeing the glass as half full, even with figures that contradict expectations, notably the 'NFP' published at 2.30 p.m. (+199,00 jobs), which triggered a sharp rise in rates (between +9 and +10 basis points).

In other words, rates have been falling since October 25, which is very favourable for equities (which were still only 10% off their all-time highs) and now that rates are rising, it's very favourable for equities because growth is proving more resilient than expected... hence new all-time highs for the euro-Stoxx50 with +0.8% at 4.510Pts and a 'high' for the CAC40 since July 31 or May 19).

Both the CAC40 and the Euro-Stoxx were driven by luxury goods, with Kering and LVMH (which has just bought a new building on the Champs Elysées for E1bn according to various sources (i.e. a record price per square metre of over E150,000, an absolute record).

The session was marked by the eagerly-awaited monthly US employment report published at 2.30pm by the Department of Labor.
The consensus figure of +145,000/+150,000 was comfortably exceeded by almost +200,000, and the unemployment rate, expected to rise to 4.00%, actually fell sharply from -0.2% to 3.7%.
Nothing was as expected, including the downward revisions for the previous 2 months: the consensus figure was -50,000, but in fact it was -35,000.

This much higher-than-expected statistic will complicate the Federal Reserve's task of recalibrating its monetary policy: its December 13 speech (final FOMC statement) may be more hawkish than Wall Street had hoped.

As a result, bonds are clearly under pressure, with the US 10-year yield up 10 points to 4.2240%, and the situation in the Eurozone is hardly any better, with Bunds up 8 points to 2.2700% and the same spread on our OATs to 2.816%.... and Italian BTPs are +10Pts at 4.061%.


The euro is down -0.25% around $1.0775, at a two-week low, and crude oil prices, which are seeing fears surrounding global demand dissipate with today's robust 'NFP', are attempting a small rebound after hitting new six-month lows yesterday.

US light crude (West Texas Intermediate, WTI) recovered 2% to $71.2 a barrel, while Brent gained 1.7% to $75.7.

In French company news, Airbus announced that Cathay Group, already one of the biggest operators of the A350, had become the latest airline to order its brand-new A350F, following the signature of a purchase contract for six aircraft.

ArcelorMittal announced that it had finalized the sale of ArcelorMittal Temirtau, its Kazakh steel and mining subsidiary, to Qazaqstan Investment Corporation (QIC), an investment fund controlled by the Kazakh state.

Finally, Euronext announced yesterday evening that Vivendi's shares would be returning to the CAC 40 index, six months after having left it, a decision which enabled the stock to climb by more than 2.3% on the Paris Bourse on Friday.

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