The Paris stock market ended a series of 6 consecutive sessions of gains, dropping -1.2% to 7,290 points, penalized in particular by the decline of luxury stocks such as LVMH and Hermès (-3.5%) and Kering and L'Oréal (-2%)... while the Swiss group Richemont plunged -10% in Zurich (to 138.5ChF).

The luxury goods sector, structurally highly dependent on the Chinese market, was penalized this morning by the release of disappointing statistics from Beijing, showing slower growth in Q2, with only +0.8% compared to Q1.

The news also continues to be dominated by the opening of the earnings season on Wall Street, where 60 S&P 500 companies, including five Dow Jones components, will publish their accounts between now and Friday.
For the time being, Wall Street is starting the week with no trend, with the S&P500 up 0.1% but the Dow Jones down 0.1%.

Among the heavyweights due to announce their quarterly performances this week are - among others - Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs, Tesla, Netflix and Johnson & Johnson.

The build-up to earnings season will also be a major focus of attention in Europe, where technology groups such as ASML and Nokia will also be presenting their earnings and forecasts.

On the other hand, the week that opens today promises to be a little less full of high-profile macroeconomic indicators.
On Monday, the Empire State index
for the New York area manufacturing sector was down again: it slowed sharply this month to +1.1, compared with +6.6 in June, but this was "not as bad" as the consensus forecast, which was for it to be in negative territory.

The New York Fed points out that new orders and shipments by manufacturing companies rose, while delivery times shortened and inventories continued to fall.

Employment levels rose slightly, while input and selling price increases continued to slow. While companies expect conditions to improve, their optimism remained subdued.

On the statistics front, the week will be dominated by tomorrow's release of US retail sales, which will determine whether the recent strength in US consumption continued in June.
Bonds also got off to a quiet start this week, with -1.7 basis points on our OATs at 3.018%, -2 basis points on Bunds at 2.455% but no change on Italian BTPs at 4.175%, and +1 basis point on US T-Bonds at 3.8300%.

FOREX also seems to be dozing off, with the E/$ unchanged at 1.1220, and the Dollar-Index down -0.05% at 99.85.


In French company news, Alstom announced that it had signed a framework contract with leasing company Akiem, worth a total of 500 million euros, for 100 Traxx Universal multi-system (MS3) locomotives, including a firm tranche of 65 locomotives.

Danone reported that the Russian authorities had issued a decree placing Danone Russia under temporary external administration, a decision which has no impact on its financial targets for 2023.

Finally, on Friday evening, Dassault Aviation confirmed the selection of its Rafale Marine by the Indian government to equip the Indian Navy with a latest-generation fighter, following a conclusive test campaign held in India.

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