It's unquestionably 'the story of the day': oil plummets by -4.5% in the US (WTI at $70.5) and Europe (Brent at 75.60) as Arabia cuts tariffs in the face of languishing demand.
What was only a consolidation in oil this morning (-2%) turned into a real air pocket this afternoon.
Such a drop relieves inflationary expectations, which were heightened last week by the detour of tankers and sea freight from Asia via southern Africa, as access to the Suez Canal via the Red Sea proved unsafe.

With interest rates beginning to ease (which was not the case this morning) and Wall Street unexpectedly accelerating upwards, the Paris Bourse returned to the green (+0.25% to 7,435) after losing almost 0.5% this morning, in the wake of TotalEnergies (-2.7%).... but volumes remain anecdotal (E1.05 bn at 17:05)
The positive reopening of Wall Street (S&P500 +0.5%, Nasdaq +1%) has rekindled some buyers, with the Euro-Stoxx50 up +0.35%.

The week ahead will be punctuated by the closely watched publication of US inflation figures, scheduled for Thursday, and by the kick-off of the US corporate earnings season, which begins the following day with the releases of major banking groups JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America and Wells Fargo.

The Paris market had a difficult first week of trading in the New Year, losing around 1.6% in four days and breaking the technically important 7,500-point barrier.

Investors had to digest a series of economic indicators, led by US employment, which tempered the prospect of a rapid interest rate cut.

Historically speaking, stock market performances in January are generally a good indicator of what lies ahead for the rest of the year

On the energy market, oil prices consolidated sharply (-4.6% following the rebate granted by Arabia) after their sharp rise of the previous week, due to a new episode of geopolitical tensions in the Red Sea.

Brent crude fell by 4.5% to $75.5 a barrel, while the euro held steady against the greenback at around $1.0960/E.

On the bond front, Treasury yields welcomed the fall in WTI: the US ten-year yield eased by -6pts below 4% (to 3.975%), while its German equivalent posted -1pt at 2.1340%, and our OATs eased by -1.5pts to 2.6670.

In French corporate news, TF1 and Free, a subsidiary of Iliad, announce the signature of a new global distribution agreement effective from January 2024, which will enable Freebox subscribers (starting with those with the Freebox Pop) to benefit from the new free TF1+ service.
On January 5, Casino announced that the European Commission had authorized its takeover by a consortium comprising EP Equity Investment III sàrl (controlled by Daniel K?etínský), Fimalac and Attestor.

Finally, TotalEnergies announces that the Libra consortium has made the final investment decision to develop an innovative natural gas and CO2 separation and reinjection unit for the Brazilian Mero field, in which it holds a 19.3% stake.


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