The Paris stock market (+1.06% at 7263 points) continued its upward trend of the previous day (+1.4%), driven in particular by the rebound of Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield (+5.1%), Société Générale (+3.2%) and BNP Paribas (+2.2%) as fears over banking stocks eased.

The turbulence of mid-March has been erased, with share prices up 1% on March 9 and 7% on March 15.

On the figures front, US GDP was revised down slightly to an annualized 2.6% (from 2.7%) in the fourth quarter of 2022, according to the third estimate from the Department of Commerce (DoC).

The slowdown in economic growth is noticeable compared with the previous quarter's annual rate of 3.2%. Overall, however, US growth for 2022 is still estimated at 2.1%.

The PCE price index - the most closely monitored sub-index - rose by 3.7% in the fourth quarter, the same rate as previous estimates. Excluding food and energy prices, it rose by 4.4%, an upward revision of 0.1 percentage points.

US weekly jobless claims rose by 7,000 in the week to March 20, to 198,000 from 191,000 the previous week, according to the US Department of Labor.000 the previous week, according to the Labor Department.

Meanwhile, the four-week moving average - considered a better indicator of the underlying trend in the labor market - showed a week-on-week increase of 2000 to 198.250.
T-Bonds remain stagnant for a second session, with a score stuck at around 3.565%.

The dollar continues to slide, shedding no less than 0.6% to $1.0910/E, approaching its annual lows.

A half-good surprise in Europe: the 12-month inflation rate slowed markedly in March in Germany, to 7.4% year-on-year (vs. +8.7% in February) this month, according to Destatis, the Federal Statistical Office.

But this is still slightly above the 7.3% expected, and is largely due to the "base effect" affecting energy prices, which rose by just 3.5% year-on-year in March - compared with a 19.8% jump the previous month.

Finally, German core inflation is not slowing down, and is even up +0.2%.
The bond market's reaction is edifying: the German 10-year is up +10pts to 2.384%, and our OATs are up +8pts to 2.8860%.

Spain's inflation figures, published this morning, show a higher-than-expected slowdown in prices in March, due to a base effect linked to energy prices, according to the first estimate published Thursday by the national statistics institute (Ine), not to mention VAT cuts.

Calculated according to harmonized European standards, the consumer price index (IPCA) fell to +3.1% year-on-year, compared with +6% in February, whereas the economists' consensus forecast a rise of 4%.

The first estimate of inflation in the eurozone as a whole for March will be published tomorrow at 11:00am. The consensus is for 7.1% annualized, after 8.5% in February.

Investors know that the European Central Bank (ECB) is keeping a close eye on these figures, and worse-than-expected data would leave the door open for further rate hikes this year.

In French company news, Saint-Gobain reports that it is the first manufacturer in the world to have achieved test production of flat glass with over 30% hydrogen during R&D trials at its Herzogenrath site in Germany.

Alstom announced this morning that its new trainsets for the Barcelona metro operator TMB (Transportes Metropolitanos de Barcelona) have entered commercial service on line 3.

The Australian airline Qantas announced on Thursday its intention to invest alongside Airbus in a biokerosene production site to be based in the Queensland region.

Finally, EDF announced the creation of its new subsidiary NUWARD, designed to strengthen the development of its small modular reactor NUWARD SMR.
In addition, EDF has announced its association with Docaposte - the digital branch of the La Poste group - within a joint venture to market 'Monha', a digital housing information booklet (CIL).


Copyright (c) 2023 CercleFinance.com. All rights reserved.