CAC 40: Chinese growth weighs on sentiment

(CercleFinance.com) - The Paris Bourse is expected to be in the red on Monday morning, as the earnings season gets underway in earnest this week, not forgetting the European Central Bank (ECB) meeting scheduled for Thursday.


At around 8:15 a.m., the 'future' contract on the CAC 40 index - July delivery - lost 62 points to 7666.5, heralding a negative start to the session.

Disappointing Chinese growth figures weighed heavily on sentiment in Asia, where Hong Kong's Hang Seng (-1.4%) lost ground following the announcement of a weaker-than-expected 4.7% rise in Chinese GDP in the second quarter.

With an acceleration in earnings releases expected in the coming days, investors should nevertheless be able to reassure themselves about market fundamentals through a series of corporate accounts.

While the leading US banks kicked off the results ball on Friday with rather disappointing performances, Goldman Sachs will unveil its quarterly results today, followed by Bank of America tomorrow.

Johnson & Johnson, Netflix and American Express are also on the calendar for the coming days.

In all, some 45 S&P 500 companies, including five Dow Jones companies, will be releasing their accounts this week.

Second-quarter results are particularly eagerly awaited, given that the major New York indices have recently set a series of all-time records.

The Dow Jones took advantage of this favorable momentum to close above the 40,000-point mark on Friday evening, a threshold above which it had not traded for two months.

However, we'll have to wait a little longer to hear the announcements most closely watched by the markets, particularly those from the technology giants and the "Magnificent Seven".

Satisfactory inflation trends in both the US and Europe reassured markets last week, paving the way for possible monetary easing measures between now and the end of the year.

Central banks will be in the spotlight again this week with Thursday's meeting of the European Central Bank (ECB), its last before the summer break, although nothing new is expected.

Investors are likely to be looking for further indications of the possibility of a further rate cut in September.

In addition to US corporate earnings, the week will also see the first results from major European stocks.

In the tech sector, the publication of ASML, the Dutch giant in equipment for the semiconductor industry, will be of particular interest to market participants.

In terms of economic indicators, we are expecting retail sales in the USA and the German ZEW index tomorrow, as well as the latest inflation figures in the UK.

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