With 30 minutes to go, the Paris stock market's decline deepens: the CAC40 gives up -0.7%, penalized in particular by the downturn in the luxury sector, with -4.3% for Hermès, -1.6% for Kering and -2.3% for LVMH.
The Euro-Stoxx50 lost -0.5%, also in the wake of the luxury giants.

On Wall Street, the US indices reopened without direction (the day after 2 record highs on the S&P500 and Nasdaq), with gaps that were not even measurable (of the order of 0.05% at most in absolute terms): the Nasdaq moved into record territory at 18.850, and new zeniths are likely to be registered this evening if the FED's 'minutes' (8pm) are deemed reassuring on inflation.

After their spectacular rally at the beginning of May, the markets have tended to stall over the past week, with the absence of major economic indicators and company results prompting investors to adopt a wait-and-see attitude.

With the positive effect of reassuring US inflation figures and the prospect of further Fed rate cuts having faded significantly, market participants opted for some profit-taking.

In a market without any real conviction, where traders are waiting for a sign indicating the direction to take, Nvidia's results - due later this evening - will be the big event of the week.

'If Nvidia beats expectations, which is likely since this has been the case eight times out of the last nine quarterly results, this could give the market a little bullish impetus', predicts Christopher Dembik, investment strategy advisor at Pictet AM.
The 'number of the day' provoked no notable reaction: sales of existing homes in the US fell by 1.9% in April to an annualized rate of 4.14 million units, according to statistics published on Wednesday by the Federation of Realtors (NAR).

Compared with April 2023, when they stood at 4.22 million units, resales are still down by 1.9%.

According to the NAR, the median price of a property rose by 5.7% year-on-year to $407,600, marking a tenth consecutive month of growth and a new record for an April.

Investors are now eagerly awaiting the minutes of the Federal Reserve's latest monetary policy meeting, which will also be published this evening at 8pm.

These 'minutes' could provide valuable clues as to the timing of future interest rate cuts in the USA.

'Recent comments from FOMC members show no rush to put rate cuts back on the table', say Oddo BHF's economists.

'The Fed can probably wait until the end of the summer to get a clearer picture', add the private bank's analysts.

According to the CME Group's FedWatch barometer, the probability of a rate hike in the autumn is now estimated at 50.8%, compared with 45.6% a month ago.

Investors' indecision is reflected in narrow swings in 10-year Treasuries, which are stagnating at around 4.415%, while the German equivalent is at 2.526% and the OAT at 3.018% (+1.8Pt respectively).

In currencies, trading was similarly flat, with the euro up a slight +0.2% against the greenback at $1.0835/E.
Gold consolidated by -1.5% at $2,400, following the previous day's record above $2,430.

The oil market continues to show weakness as it awaits the release of weekly US crude inventories in the afternoon.
Brent crude is currently down 0.4% at $82.1, its lowest level since the consolidation period from mid-February to early March.

In French company news, Schneider Electric announces the completion of preliminary discussions with Bentley Systems regarding a potential strategic transaction, the two groups having mutually agreed not to proceed with such a transaction.

LVMH announces the expansion of its partnership with Alibaba to 'push the boundaries of the luxury experience in China, leveraging Alibaba's cloud technologies, through AI-powered retail innovations and the Tmall e-commerce site'.

Bouygues Construction has announced that its Moroccan subsidiary Bymaro will build the Mohammed VI International University Hospital in Rabat, scheduled for delivery in September 2025, at a cost of nearly 450 million euros.

Finally, Renault announced on Wednesday the opening of orders in France for its new Symbioz, a compact vehicle positioned at the entry level of the C segment.

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