CAC 40: very positive results at the end of a quiet week

(CercleFinance.com) - The Paris Bourse is set to continue its winning streak on Friday morning and open higher, taking the CAC 40 to within a stone's throw of its all-time highs and further strengthening the positive balance sheet posted for the week as a whole.


At around 8:15 a.m., the 'future' contract on the CAC index - end-of-month delivery - gained 25.5 points to 8202.5 points, heralding a green start to the day.

Despite limited activity due to the Ascension bank holiday, the Paris market managed to post a fifth consecutive session of gains yesterday, closing the session with a 0.7% gain at 8187 points.

The CAC 40 index - which is on course for a rise of almost 3% over the week as a whole - thus came very close to its all-time high of 8205 points, set at the end of March.

Renewed risk appetite also drove the pan-European STOXX 600 index and the German DAX index to new all-time highs, on the back of the glimmer of hope surrounding the recovery of the European economy.

On Wall Street, the Dow Jones recorded its seventh consecutive session of gains yesterday, while the S&P 500 index - the barometer for US fund managers - is back in touch with its all-time highs.

With the world's stock markets hovering close to their all-time highs, investors will be paying close attention to economic indicators over the next few days.

They will be looking for new clues as to the timing of the next rate cuts, in both the US and Europe, and to assess the chances of a continued rally in equities.

This afternoon, investors will be watching the US consumer confidence index drawn up by the University of Michigan, which will provide an insight into the current mood of households across the Atlantic.

Yields on US Treasuries are down slightly, at 4.49% for the ten-year and 4.82% for the two-year, showing little change for the week as a whole.

The two- to ten-year segment of the yield curve remains inverted, a signal generally seen as a coming recession.

In Europe, benchmark yields continue to rise, at 2.49% for the German ten-year, back close to the 2.50% threshold, and 2.98% for its French equivalent.

Yet the market continues to massively anticipate a 25 basis point easing in European Central Bank (ECB) rates next month.

The oil market remains firm, and is still heading for a positive weekly performance, with investors expecting the OPEC+ countries to continue cutting oil production.

Brent crude is up 0.4% at $84.4 a barrel, and US light crude (West Texas Intermediate, WTI) is up 0.8% at $79.9, the latter posting a weekly rise of over 2% after last week's sharp fall.

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