The Paris Bourse ended the session in the red (-0.52% towards 7387Pts) after the release of consumer price figures, slightly above consensus: the most closely watched component, Core CPI, came in at +0.3% (in line with expectations, but inflation stood at +3.9% annualized vs. 3.8% expected), while the overall rate came in at +0.3% (+0.2% anticipated) and +3.4% annualized (vs. 3.2% expected).

The yield on the US T-Bond gained a fraction to 4.05% from 4.02% on Wednesday evening.

Jobless claims were virtually stable, down by -1.000 on a weekly basis, which is equivalent to the margin of uncertainty.

CPI is not establishing itself as a game changer, and European indices continue to stagnate within the same 1% amplitude range since January 3.

Wall Street is also likely to stall in contact with the absolute highs reached last night after a positive session of +0.5%.... a pullback is taking shape at the start of the session.

The other hoped-for catalyst could come from the corporate world, with the fourth-quarter earnings season kicking off tomorrow with reports from the major US banks, led by JPMorgan.

According to FactSet, S&P 500 corporate earnings should have risen by 1.3% over the last three months of the year, marking a second consecutive quarter of earnings growth.

But investors will be paying particular attention to their outlook for 2024, as companies that have already released their accounts have been rather cautious in their forecasts.

Benchmark bond yields are little changed after the US statistics, with the German Bund and our OATs stretching marginally by +1Pt and +1.5Pt to 2.199% and 2.7350 respectively.

The dollar is stabilizing against the euro at 1.0965, while gold is also unchanged at $2,033/Oz.

After its bout of weakness the previous day, linked to the announcement of a modest weekly rise in US crude oil inventories last week, the oil market is back on the rise.

Brent gained 2% to $78.4 a barrel, while US light crude (West Texas Intermediate, WTI) gained 1.7% to $72.5.

Copyright (c) 2024 CercleFinance.com. All rights reserved.