The Paris Bourse ended the session with a gain of 1.13%, at 7480 points, an all-time closing level, close to the day's high (and absolute record) of 7486 points, recorded a few minutes earlier.

The Parisian index benefited above all from the dynamic performance of the luxury goods sector, with +5.6% for LVMH, +3% for Hermès, +2.9% for L'Oréal, and +2.6% for Kering, these four firms being the best performers on the CAC today.

The CAC40 is thus on an almost unprecedented upward solo run, with Frankfurt and Amsterdam gaining almost 0.1%, while London is content with around +0.2%.

This morning, investors took note of US producer prices: these rose by only 2.75% over 12 months (and 3.6% excluding food), compared with +4.9% and +4.5% respectively in February.

The US Labor Department reports that PPI contracted by 0.5% in March compared with the previous month, but rose by 0.1% excluding food, energy and business services.

The US budget deficit jumps to $1,100 bn, as the bailout of SVB and Signature bank has increased federal spending.

On the other hand, US unemployment benefit registrations rose by 11.000 in the week to April 3, to 239,000 from 228,000 the previous week.

The four-week moving average - considered a better indicator of the underlying trend in the job market - stands at 240,000, up 2250 week-on-week.

Finally, the number of people receiving regular benefits fell by 13,000 to 1,810,000 in the week of March 27, the last week available for this statistic.

In Europe, inflation in Germany continues to contract (to +7.4% over 12 months).
Industrial production in the Eurozone, seasonally adjusted, rose by 1.5%, and by 1.4% in the EU, according to Eurostat estimates, following increases of 1% and 0.4% respectively in January.

Compared with February 2022, industrial production rose by 2% in the eurozone and 2.1% in the EU, following annual rates of change of +0.9% in the eurozone and +1% in the EU observed in January.

While inflation seems to have passed its peak, its decline is largely dependent on energy prices, on which rate hikes have little impact: it is likely to remain well above the 2% target for many months to come.

Another point of contention is that the monetary tightening underway is likely to push the US economy into recession in the second half of 2023, and limit the recovery expected in 2024.

PIMCO believes that the risks of an "earlier and more severe" recession have increased.

For the asset manager, bank failures, rising capital costs and the flight of deposits from the most fragile US banks point to a marked tightening of credit conditions.

Against this backdrop, the yield on ten-year US Treasuries eased -3pts to 3.39%.

On the European bond market, the positive trend this morning reverted to neutral: the yield on the French ten-year stabilized at 2.885% (+1Pt) and its German equivalent tightened by +1Pt to 2.3700%.
Experts believe a +50Pt hike by the ECB is possible in May, but they are no longer in the majority.

On the foreign exchange market, the dollar has just sunk below $1.10/euro (-0.5%) towards its new annual low.
Some currency traders consider the greenback still overvalued, given that the interest rate differential between the two sides of the Atlantic is set to narrow.

The oil market is stabilizing after its surge of the last three weeks (+25% since March 17), but is holding on to the gains made on Wednesday following the announcement of an anecdotal rise in US crude inventories.

Brent crude is down 0.2% at $87 a barrel, while West Texas Intermediate (WTI) is down 0.4% at $82.7.

On the crypto front, note the double crossing of symbolic thresholds: $30.000 for Bitcoin, $2,000 for Ethereum (+1% on these 2 digital assets).

In French company news, LVMH last night reported sales of 21,035 million euros for the 1st quarter 2023, up 17% organically on the same period a year earlier, with leather goods up +21%.

Christian Dior reported first-quarter 2023 sales of 21 billion euros, up 17% in both total and organic terms, "an excellent start to the year in a geopolitical and economic context that remains uncertain".

SES announced on Thursday the signature in Germany of several multi-year capacity agreements representing a total of over 75 million euros.

Air Liquide announced on Wednesday evening that it had spent more than $380 million to redeem two series of greenback bonds.

Stellantis reports that all resolutions submitted for shareholder approval at the Annual General Meeting (AGM) were adopted, including the proposal to approve a dividend distribution of 4.2 billion euros on ordinary shares.

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