CAC40: falling interest rates desensitize Europe to W-Street

(CercleFinance.com) - The CAC40 (+0.
4% to 8,055pts) remains in high water despite Wall Street's loss of momentum, with the main US indices failing to retain even a third or a quarter of their initial gains... but this is offset by a spontaneous and timely easing of interest rates (in the absence of stats or speeches by central bankers).
The Euro-Stoxx50 is moving in the same direction (between 4,935 and 4,940), and the surprise comes from the London Stock Exchange (+1.75%), where the FT-100 has broken through 8,000.000 (at over 8,030) and is preparing to set a new double all-time record (intraday and close, above the 8,014 posted on 20/02/2023).

Wall Street had reopened on a more sustained note (+0.5 to +0.8%) after last week's heavy losses (-3% for the S&P500, -5.6% for the Nasdaq), but the S&P is now only gaining +0.2% and the Nasdaq is struggling not to fall back into the red.
The Dow Jones (+0.2%) laboriously climbed back above 38,000, after testing 38,190 in early trading.
Earnings season will be in full swing in the US this week, with results from tech titans Microsoft, Meta Platforms and Alphabet likely to give the markets a second wind.

'We think the recent risk-averse backdrop and correction in tech stocks represents a clear buying opportunity ahead of the upcoming results', says Dan Ives, analyst at Wedbush Securities.

As a reminder, last week, Netflix published figures that were broadly in line with expectations, but this did not prevent the share price from falling by 9% after soaring in recent months.
Nvidia fell on Friday by -10% and Super Micro-Computer plunged by -24%, for no other reason than technical reasons (breakage of supports).

Beyond the results, investors will continue to monitor inflation with the release on Friday of the PCE index in the US, the Fed's preferred indicator of price dynamics.

Before that, the publication - on Thursday - of the first US gross domestic product (GDP) figures for the first quarter will be closely followed.

The consensus forecast is for a slight slowdown in growth to 2.9%, following the 3.4% recorded in the fourth quarter.

Meanwhile, US yields are still flirting with their worst levels of the year, even if the '10 yr' is doing better than this morning (+1.5Pt to 4.6300% vs. 4.655% at midday), with the '30 yr' gaining +2Pts to 4.73%.

An easing is taking shape in Europe, with the Bund at 2.5300% (+2.5pts) this morning and back below 2.500%, and our OATs, which reached 3.05%, easing -2.5pts to 2.900%.
Italian BTPs, on the other hand, are a surprise, shedding -8pts to 3.820%.

The easing of tension between Israel and Iran is weighing on Gold (-2.2% to $2,336) and Silver (-4% to $27.5/Oz).
Brent crude oil is also consolidating, down -0.8% to $86.7, while WTI is down -0.8% to $81.5 on the NYMEX.
Euro/Dollar parity is little changed, with the $ gaining 0.1% (Euro at $1.0645).

In French company news, GTT reported Friday evening an 81.2% increase in sales to 144.8 million euros for the first quarter of 2024, of which 133.2 million related to new constructions, three million to the Elogen electrolyser business and 8.6 million to services.

TotalEnergies announces the final investment decision for the Marsa LNG project, in which it holds an 80% stake alongside the Omani national oil company OQ (20%).

Technip Energies reports that it has won a "substantial" contract (between 500 and 1000 ME) for the development of this project.

Nexans reports that it has signed a four-year emergency preparedness and response contract with Equinor, covering turnkey repairs to various cable systems with a total length of almost 3,000 km.

STMicroelectronics announced on Monday that it had extended its silicon carbide (SiC) wafer supply agreement with SiCrystal, a subsidiary of the German industrial group Rohm.


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