The CAC 40 kicks off this holiday lull week in a balanced manner, with many operators absent. The index remains close to the 8,100-point mark.

This calm period between the year-end holidays naturally gives market professionals time to review the year drawing to a close and consider the outlook for the one ahead.

"Resilient macroeconomic conditions, profit growth driven by AI, and accommodative monetary policy have generated double-digit returns in developed markets," summarized Swiss Life Asset Managers a few days ago.

SLAM more broadly highlighted "solid gains for global equities in 2025 despite volatility," even though "trade tensions and geopolitical risks triggered intermittent corrections" during the year.

Thus, at this stage, the CAC 40 shows a gain of about 9.6% since January 1, though it has underperformed the pan-European STOXX Europe 600 index (up roughly 16%), as well as the benchmark U.S. S&P 500 index (up 17.8%).

According to SLAM, "2026 should be the fourth consecutive year of solid returns." "Strong monetary and fiscal support, as well as resilient GDP and earnings growth, explain the 6% to 12% target for global equities," they noted.

Awaiting the new year, the week is set to be especially quiet as macroeconomic data will be scarce, at least until this Friday, when PMI indices for the manufacturing sector in Europe and the United States are due to be released.

In corporate news, Alstom has signed a contract to supply 47 DMU passenger trains to Mexico, including 33 long-distance trains and 14 suburban trains, a deal valued at approximately 920 million euros.

Atos Group has reached a binding agreement to sell its South American operations to Semantix. These activities currently employ around 2,800 professionals in Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Uruguay, and Peru.

Thales has signed a major contract with Defence Equipment and Support (DE&S) for the design, development, and delivery of the next generation of portable autonomous command centers.

This initial contract, worth £10 million, marks the first stage of a program that could reach £100 million to provide the Royal Navy with new-generation mine countermeasure capabilities.