The Paris Bourse recorded one of its strongest gains of the year, with a gain of over 2% (+2.43% to 7,094), representing a cumulative gain of over 4.2% in 4 sessions since a low of 6,810Pts on October 30.810Pts on October 30.
The Paris index was led by URW, which gained 7.5%, ahead of Worldline +6% and Téléperformance +4.6%.
The euro-Stoxx50 also posted a healthy +2.2% at 4.180, while Wall Street extended the previous day's rally with +1.2% on the Dow Jones, +1.5% on the S&P500 and the Nasdaq, which jumped +3.3% in 8 hours of continuous trading (watch out for Apple's quarterly results published this evening just after 9pm).

There were figures at the start of the afternoon in the United States: new orders for US industry rose more vigorously than expected in September, by +2.8%, boosted mainly by a surge in aeronautical orders, which soared by more than 92%.
Orders for non-aeronautical capital goods, often considered a reliable barometer of companies' investment plans, rose by 0.8%.
Despite the rebound at the end of Q3, overall orders were up by only 0.7%.
Non-farm productivity rose by 4.7% annualized in the US in Q3 2023, according to the Labor Department's preliminary estimate, following a 3.6% increase in the previous quarter.

These productivity gains over the last quarter, slightly ahead of expectations, were based on a 5.9% rise in output for an increase of only 1.1% in the number of hours worked.
Taking into account a 3.9% rise in hourly wages, non-farm unit labor costs in the US fell by 0.8% in Q3 2023, as a result of this strong rise in productivity

Wednesday evening's sharp easing in T-Bonds rates continued, with -0pts to 4.63%: the bond market seems to have appreciated the rather accommodative tone adopted the previous day by the US Federal Reserve.
As expected, the Fed maintained its monetary policy unchanged last night, while hinting at the possibility of a further rate hike... while acknowledging that borrowing conditions were weighing on companies and should dampen the momentum of the job market.
According to analysts, the phlegm displayed by Jerome Powell at his press conference nonetheless suggests that the US central bank's tightening cycle may be over.

'For this FOMC, Jerome Powell was still obliged to leave some doors open for what comes next, but the sense of urgency has disappeared and one senses a kind of serenity about the disinflation process', judges Bastien Drut, Head of Strategy and Economic Research at CPR AM.
It is therefore even more likely that the rate hike cycle is over", he adds.
Rate easing is well underway in Europe: the Bund is down 6.5pts to 2.688%, and the French OAT is down 8.6pts to 3.2970%.

At midday, the Bank of England confirmed that it was maintaining its monetary policy: in view of the fall in inflation in the country and the multiple downward signals on economic activity, the BoE has enough to justify a continuation of the monetary pause initiated in September.

On the statistics front, the HCOB PMI index for French manufacturing, calculated by S&P Global, fell from 44.2 in September to 42.8 in October, dropping further below the 50 no-change mark and posting its lowest level since May 2020.

In the eurozone, the HCOB PMI index for the manufacturing industry fell from 43.4 in September to 43.1 in October, signalling a further marked deterioration in the sector's economic situation and staying below 50 for the 16th month in a row.

The European stock market continues to be buoyed by numerous corporate publications, with the accounts of - among others - ING, Novo Nordisk, Shell and Ferrari.

On the other side of the Atlantic, many heavyweights are also due to report their results this Thursday, including Apple, which will unveil its eagerly awaited quarterly results after the close of trading.

On the energy market, oil prices remain hesitant, torn between the prospect of a slowdown in the global economy and persistent tensions in the Middle East. Brent crude advanced by 1.4% to $86.1.

In the news for French companies, Technip Energies reported EPS for the first nine months of 2023, based on "adjusted IFRS" data, down 8% to 1.15 euros, and a recurring EBIT margin that improved by 0.3 points to 7.2%, on sales down 9.4% to 4.41 billion euros.

Schneider Electric announced that, after entering into exclusive negotiations with Atos on July 3, it had finalized the acquisition of EcoAct, a specialist in climate consulting and net-zero solutions, following approval from the relevant regulatory authorities.

Finally, Alstom announced on Thursday that it had signed an eight-year extension to its rail services agreement with British operator CrossCountry.



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