The Paris stock market ended the final session of the week down 1.74%, at 7,015 points, penalized by the heavy decline in banking stocks, such as Société Générale (-6.1%), BNP Paribas (-5.3%) and, to a lesser extent, Crédit Agricole (-2%), against a backdrop of doubts about the soundness of the international banking system.

In Europe, worries focused in particular on Deutsche Bank, which shed 8.8% and suffered massive sell-offs (80 million shares in 6 hours, i.e. 10 trading sessions on average), while CDSs (debt insurance) "predicted" an imminent bankruptcy risk of 33%. For its part, Credit Suisse is down 5.3%.

Since Monday, the CAC40 has nevertheless gained 1.3%, with a gain of almost 8% since the start of the year.

On the menu on March 24, there were also figures from the US which do not point in the direction of rate easing by the FED.

According to S&P Global, growth in the US private sector accelerated sharply in March, with the composite PMI index reaching a 10-month high of 53.3 in flash estimates, after rising to 50.1 the previous month.

"Production grew at a solid pace as demand conditions improved and new orders returned to growth", explains S&P Global, which also points to an acceleration in selling price inflation.

On the downside, US durable goods orders fell by 1% last month, following a 5% drop in January (revised from an initial estimate of -4.5%).

The Commerce Department reports that while transportation equipment orders contracted by 2.8% month-on-month, US durable goods orders managed to remain roughly stable in February.

This morning, investors were treated to the flash estimate for the S&P Global composite PMI index of overall activity in the eurozone. The index recovered for a fifth consecutive month in March, reaching a ten-month high of 54.1, compared with 52.0 in February.

Growth was again underpinned by the performance of the services sector, whose activity recorded its strongest expansion since May 2022. In the manufacturing sector, on the other hand, activity levels stagnated in March.

The fixed-income markets are benefiting from a risk-off climate, with our OATs erasing -5pts to 2.6650% and Bunds -4.5pts to 2.1450%.

Across the Atlantic, T-Bonds eased -2.5pts to 3.3800%... but that didn't stop the Dollar from recovering 0.8% to $1.0740/euro (it serves as a refuge in case of stress) and gold broke through the symbolic $2.000 per ounce (it is also a relevant safe haven in a climate of monetary all-in by central banks).

In corporate news, animal health group Virbac reports a 7.8% rise in net income (Group share) to 122 million euros for 2022, and a 7.7% increase in operating income before amortization of assets acquired through acquisitions (adjusted operating income before amortization of assets acquired through acquisitions) to 186.6 million.

Teleperformance announced that it had already achieved its 2026 objective of reducing its CO2 emissions per full-time equivalent employee by 49% compared with 2019, including reductions of 15% in 2021 and 9% in 2022.

Airbus delivered the first A321neo aircraft assembled on its final assembly line in Asia (FAL Tianjin) to the Chinese airline Juneyao Air in Tianjin, China.

Finally, Gaussin announced on Friday that its logistics and port tractors were now recognized as clean vehicles in Canada, making them eligible for subsidies.


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