The Paris Stock Exchange dropped 0.1% to 7,955 points, notably weighed down by Bureau Veritas, Edenred, and Veolia, each falling around 1.7%. After a week dense with corporate earnings, the CAC is currently showing a decline of about 2%.
With earnings season coming to a close, there are no longer significant catalysts for the markets from this front. Moreover, investors now face a marked deterioration in the U.S. labor market and questions over the necessity for the Federal Reserve to cut rates in December.
These movements mainly reflect concerns about the high valuation levels reached by major U.S. technology groups, especially those linked to artificial intelligence—a shift that could signal a more lasting change in investor sentiment.
"The decline clearly illustrates the market's questions about the valuation multiples reached by tech giants and the legitimacy of their stocks trading at a P/E ratio around 30x," explains Ahmad Assiri, strategist at Pepperstone.
On Thursday in New York, the Dow Jones lost 0.8%, the S&P 500 dropped 1.1%, and the Nasdaq fell 1.9%. The latter two indices ended the session near their daily lows, a technical factor that could be cause for concern.
"One could see the selling pressure as a healthy market correction, even a sort of return to reality after a phase of overconfidence fueled by very rapid gains," Ahmad Assiri tempers. "This may be an opportunity to reassess positions and adopt a more selective approach," adds the market analyst.
The session was expected to be driven by the official U.S. employment report from the Department of Labor, but its release has been postponed indefinitely due to the ongoing federal government shutdown, now entering its 38th day—five and a half weeks, an unprecedented event in the country's history.
On the data front, France's trade deficit widened to 6.58 billion euros in September, up from 5.19 billion euros the previous month, according to seasonally and calendar-adjusted data from Bercy. Meanwhile, Germany's trade surplus stood at 15.3 billion euros for September, down from 16.9 billion euros the previous month (revised from an initial estimate of 17.2 billion euros).
Oil prices are in positive territory but are heading for weekly losses (-1.5%), also hit by the decline in equity markets. In London, Brent crude rose 1% to $64.2 per barrel.
Like oil, the prices of major base metals are up, with gold fully benefiting from its safe-haven status, rebounding 0.7% to around $4,010 an ounce.
On the bond market, the 10-year Bund stands at 2.67% (+1 bp), while the equivalent OAT is at 3.46% (+1 bp).
In French company news, Arkema reported third-quarter 2025 current EPS more than halved (-53.8%) to 1.04 euros, with current operating income (REBIT) plunging 42.3% to 142 million euros, representing a margin of 6.5% versus 10.3% a year earlier.
Euronext posted a slightly lower adjusted EPS, down 3.4% to 1.68 euros for the third quarter of 2025, but adjusted EBITDA rose 12.6% to 276.7 million euros, with the margin improving by 1.2 points to 63.2%.
Renault Group announced the successful issuance of a Samurai bond with a nominal value of 95.2 billion yen, a three-year maturity, and a fixed coupon of 2.17%, marking its return to the Japanese bond market since 2022.
Getlink, the parent company of Eurotunnel, reported that its LeShuttle passenger service transported 153,929 tourist vehicles in October, up 4% year-on-year, but LeShuttle Freight carried 99,098 trucks, a 7% decrease.
Finally, Airbus announced on Friday that it delivered 78 aircraft in October, a figure that marks a clear acceleration compared to recent months but also means the manufacturer will need to step up efforts to meet its annual targets.
