The Paris Bourse ended the day with a 1.22% gain to 7517 points, partially erasing the 2.3% decline recorded over the last two sessions.

The Paris index was aided by gains for EssilorLuxottica (+7.4%), Saint-Gobain (+4.2%) and Dassault Systèmes (+3.6%). This performance also enabled the CAC40 to limit its weekly decline to a modest 0.2%. Since the beginning of the year, the decline now stands at 0.6%.

The Paris market's rebound will not, however, make us forget the "air pocket" of the last two days, nor the disappointing results of several major companies, such as STMicroelectronics, Kering, Stellantis and Capgemini today.

"When results are below expectations, companies are very heavily penalized", points out Christopher Dembik, Investment Strategy Consultant at Pictet AM.

When results are better than expected, however, they are scarcely applauded", the analyst points out.
Across the Atlantic, the week ended well with the Dow Jones up 1.5%, back above the 40,500 mark, the S&P500 up 0.9% and the Nasdaq up 0.6%.

US equity markets also experienced significant sell-offs this week, as investors continued to shed major technology stocks following less than reassuring releases from Alphabet and Tesla.

Christopher Dembik warns: "The market is clearly over-reacting to the downturn, and this is likely to continue in the days and weeks ahead".

On the figures front, the much-anticipated PCE price index - closely watched by the Fed - showed a 0.1 point drop in inflation to 2.5% year-on-year, but the 'Core' PCE was stable at 2.6% (excluding energy and food).

The Commerce Department, which publishes these figures, also reports that US household spending rose by 0.3% in June compared with the previous month, while incomes rose by 0.2%.

"Consumer sentiment" recovered slightly, from 66 to 66.4, while the component of households' judgement of their current situation fell to 62.7 from 64.1 in the first estimate and 65.9 in June.
One-year consumer inflation expectations returned to 2.9%, back in the 2.3% to 3% range that prevailed before the Covid-19 epidemic.

On the bond front, T-Bonds eased -5.5 basis points to 4.20%. It's calmer in Europe, with Bunds erasing a symbolic 1Pt to 2.40%, and the same for our OATs at 3.10%.

The oil market is back on a slight upward trend, but this is not stopping it from heading for a third consecutive week of declines in the face of the sudden surge in global risk aversion.

Brent crude resumed its slide, dropping -2.3% to $80.5 (-2% weekly), while the euro held steady against the greenback at $1.085/E.

In other French company news, EssilorLuxottica reported adjusted net income (group share) of 1.75 billion euros for the first six months of 2024, up 5.5% (+10.6% at constant exchange rates), and an adjusted operating margin of 18.3% (+0.5 points to 18.8% at constant exchange rates).

Capgemini saw its net income (group share) rise by 3% to 835 million euros, with a stable operating margin of 12.4% on sales down 2.5% to just over 11.1 billion.

Amundi reported adjusted net income up 9.4% to 350 million euros for the second quarter of 2024, thanks to growth in adjusted net revenues (+7.7% to 887 million) and a positive jaws effect.

Bouygues reported net income, group share, down 17% to 186 million euros for the first six months of 2024, but recurring operating income from activities (ROCA) up 3% to 747 million, an increase 'largely driven by Equans'.

Lastly, Air Liquide reported a 3.3% increase in recurring net income, Group share (RNRPG) to 1.68 billion euros (+16% excluding the currency effect) for the first half of 2024, with an operating margin of 19.4% (+100 basis points excluding the energy effect).


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