The CAC40 (-3.4% to 6,900) was not saved by the US indices: they reopened down -1.5% and widened their losses to -2% for the Dow Jones and -1.8% for the S&P500) in the wake of the banking sector, with First Republic down -15%.
In Europe, Paris was not the worst hit, as Madrid fell -3.8% and Milan -4.3%.

The CBOE volatility index, often dubbed Wall Street's fear barometer, jumped +15% to 27.00.
But Wall Street, like the rest of Europe, has been hit hard by a wave of stress, of which the SVB and Signature bankruptcies were only the beginnings of a much deeper crisis that had been brewing for months in the balance sheets of major banks that had "mismanaged" their risks (underestimated, poorly modeled) when the cost of money was zero.

In Paris, Sté Générale fell by more than -14%, to 21.2E, BNP-Paribas by -12%, Crédit Agricole by -8%... a trading halt was necessary at lunchtime.
After the shockwaves of the collapse of 'SVB' and 'Signature Bank' comes a much bigger and more explosive story: the -20% collapse of Crédit Suisse (towards 2E) - let down by its main Saudi shareholder - which seems to confirm its probable bankruptcy (anticipated at over 50% if we rely on the CDS which are soaring towards 900Pts).
As with Lehman, the collapse of a systemic bank puts all its counterparties at risk.
What is particularly stressful for the markets is the silence of the Swiss authorities, who are rather incomprehensibly silent: Bruno Lemaire has asked to speak to his Swiss counterpart this evening (he must not be the only one)!
Crédit Suisse's difficulties are nothing new, and the sudden rise in interest rates seems to be hastening its downfall: how many of its borrowing customers are finding themselves in difficulty due to the rise in the cost of money... which keeps pace with inflation?
In this climate, the day's figures take a back seat: in Europe, investors have taken note of the latest inflation data for France. The consumer price index (CPI) rose by 1.0% month-on-month in February 2023, after +0.4% in January. According to Insee, inflation thus rose to 6.3% year-on-year.

In the United States, the New York Fed's Empire State index fell from -5.8 in February to -24.6 this month (consensus -7.4).
The new orders index fell by fourteen points to -21.7, indicating that orders have dropped considerably, and the shipments index fell by fourteen points to -13.4, indicating a drop in shipments.
U.S. business inventories fell in January, due in part to a sharp rise in sales, according to data published Wednesday by the Commerce Department.
Inventories fell by 0.1% last month, after rising by a revised 0.3% in December.
Business sales rose by 1.5%, after falling by 0.6% the previous month. On an annual basis, they are up by 5%.
At the current rate, it will therefore take them 1.34 months to clear their inventories, compared with 1.36 months in December.
One pleasant surprise, however, is US producer prices.
These unexpectedly fell by -0.1% in February (the consensus was +0.3%), as the sharp drop in food prices came on top of the downturn in energy costs.
Year-on-year, it rose by 4.6%, compared with 6% the previous month, confirming the moderation in inflation seen in recent months.
Core inflation edged up by 0.2%, following a 0.5% rise in January, to 4.4% annualized, after 4.5% the previous month.
Rates are easing sharply in Europe - the ECB is likely to abandon its plan to raise rates by 50 basis points and settle for 25 basis points, or even "pass": the Euro's -1.8% fall to 1.0550 seems to indicate that well-informed operators know that the ECB will seek to reassure the markets.
Long yields have eased by -30pts on our OATs (-48pts on the 2-year at 2.545%) and -31pts on Bunds, while US T-Bonds are down -22pts at 3.415%.

The most spectacular fall was in US short rates, with the '2-yr' dropping -50pts to 3.80%, and the '1-yr' erasing -35pts to 4.12% (vs. 5.25% a week earlier).

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