The Paris Bourse ended the session down 1.58% at 7411 points, recovering slightly after briefly visiting 7380 points (or nearly -2%) in the afternoon.

The Paris index had to contend with the latest events at Alstom, whose share price dropped by more than 10% today: the rail giant has shed half its value in the last three months. LVMH also suffered a 3.8% correction, as did Teleperformance (-3.7%).

On the other side of the Atlantic, red is also dominant, with the S&P500 and Dow Jones down by around 0.6%, and the Nasdaq down by 0.8%.

"A period of doubt often follows the euphoria of the end-of-year period", analyzed Christopher Dembik, Investment Strategy Advisor at Pictet AM, this morning.

While it's not surprising to see a pause after the rapid rise of most risky assets in the last two months of 2023, we believe that the outlook for bonds and, above all, equities, is promising for 2024 as a whole', assessed the teams at Capital Economics.

Many strategists say they expect the S&P 500, the benchmark index for US managers, to reach the 5,000-point mark this year, representing a theoretical rise of around 5%.

As for Europe, analysts point to the low valuation of European equities and a very marked discount to US markets, which they believe is set to narrow.

According to economists at Swiss Life Asset Managers, global stock markets have the potential to deliver a realistic return of 3% to 7% (total return) in 2024, given the prospects for earnings growth.

This morning, traders were informed of a rise in the number of jobseekers in Germany. The number of jobseekers rose by 31,000 in December compared with the previous month, to 2,637,000, or 5.7% of the active population (+0.1 points), according to the monthly report from the Federal Employment Agency.

Still on the statistics front, activity in the US manufacturing sector saw its contraction slow last month, according to the Institute for Supply Management (ISM), whose index rose to 47.4, compared with 46.7 for November.

Finally, on the bond front, the 10-year German Bund rate, the benchmark for European risk-free rates, is moving slightly above 2%, after a year-end rally described as "out of the ordinary".

The yield on 10-year US Treasuries is also tightening, at around 4%, after having fallen steadily for more than two months.

On the currency markets, the euro is hovering around $1.0910, with traders believing that sluggish growth, falling inflation and the prospect of monetary easing augur well for a weak single currency this year.

In French company news, Kering lost almost 3% and thus underperformed the trend in Paris, with unfavorable comments from Stifel which, while maintaining its 'hold' recommendation, lowered its price target from 430 to 420 euros on the Gucci parent company's shares.

Renault claims to have outperformed the French automotive market in 2023 and to be the leader in PC + LCV sales (passenger cars and light commercial vehicles) with 390.484 registrations, an increase of 16%.

Thales announced on Wednesday the signing of a contract for the delivery of new-generation medium-range ground radars for the Lithuanian Army.

While maintaining its 'neutral' position on Pernod Ricard, UBS has lowered its price target from 167 to 163 euros, a new target leaving only 5% upside potential for the French spirits group's shares.

Lastly, the Paris Bourse ended the session down 1.58% at 7411 points, recovering slightly after briefly testing 7380 points and -2% in the afternoon.

The Paris index had to contend with the latest setbacks at Alstom, whose share price dropped by more than 10% today: the rail giant has shed half its value over the past three months. LVMH also suffered a 3.8% correction, as did Teleperformance.


On the other side of the Atlantic, red is also dominant, with the S&P500 and Dow Jones down by around 0.6%, and the Nasdaq down by 0.8%.

"A period of doubt often follows the euphoria of the end-of-year period", analyzed Christopher Dembik, Investment Strategy Consultant at Pictet AM, this morning.

While it's not surprising to see a pause after the rapid rise of most risky assets in the last two months of 2023, we believe that the outlook for bonds and, above all, equities, is promising for 2024 as a whole', assessed the teams at Capital Economics.

Many strategists say they expect the S&P 500, the benchmark index for US managers, to reach the 5,000-point mark this year, representing a theoretical rise of around 5%.

As for Europe, analysts point to the low valuation of European equities and a very marked discount to US markets, which they believe is set to narrow.

According to economists at Swiss Life Asset Managers, global stock markets have the potential to deliver a realistic return of 3% to 7% (total return) in 2024, given the prospects for earnings growth.

This morning, traders were informed of a rise in the number of jobseekers in Germany. The number of jobseekers rose by 31,000 in December compared with the previous month, to 2,637,000, or 5.7% of the active population (+0.1 points), according to the monthly report from the Federal Employment Agency.

Still on the statistics front, activity in the US manufacturing sector saw its contraction slow last month, according to the Institute for Supply Management (ISM), whose index rose to 47.4, compared with 46.7 for November.

Finally, on the bond front, the 10-year German Bund rate, the benchmark for European risk-free rates, is moving slightly above 2%, after a year-end rally described as "out of the ordinary".

The yield on 10-year US Treasuries is also tightening, at around 4%, after having fallen steadily for more than two months.

On the currency markets, the euro is hovering around $1.0910, with traders believing that sluggish growth, falling inflation and the prospect of monetary easing augur well for a weak single currency this year.

In French company news, Kering lost almost 3% and thus underperformed the trend in Paris, with unfavorable comments from Stifel which, while maintaining its 'hold' recommendation, lowered its price target from 430 to 420 euros on the Gucci parent company's shares.

Renault claims to have outperformed the French automotive market in 2023 and to be the leader in PC + LCV sales (passenger cars and light commercial vehicles) with 390.484 registrations, an increase of 16%.

Thales announced on Wednesday the signing of a contract for the delivery of new-generation medium-range ground radars for the Lithuanian Army.

While maintaining its 'neutral' position on Pernod Ricard, UBS has lowered its price target from 167 to 163 euros, a new target leaving only 5% upside potential for the French spirits group's shares.

Finally, Alstom signs a contract with the Royal Commission for AlUla for its experimental tramway project in Saudi Arabia, worth over 500 million euros


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