The Paris Bourse ended the session down 0.69%, at 7580 points, as the downturn in the luxury goods sector that began the previous day continued, with -3.1% for Kering, -2.3% for Hermès, -1.9% for LVMH and -1.5% for L'Oréal.

Investors are paying little heed to the dynamics at work on the other side of the Atlantic, where US indices are multiplying record highs, with the Dow Jones at +1.5% and the S&P 500 at +0.4%.

Caution thus prevailed on the Old Continent, where the E-Stoxx50 lost -0.6% at around 4950 pts.

On the statistics front, the markets took note of the latest US retail sales figures early this afternoon.

After rising by 0.3% in May compared with the previous month (revised from an initially announced 0.1% increase), US retail sales remained flat on a sequential basis in June, according to the Commerce Department... whereas they were expected to have fallen by -0.2%.

Excluding the automotive sector (vehicles and equipment), which is sometimes volatile, US retail sales rose by 0.4% last month compared with the previous month, following a 0.1% increase in May.

For their part, US import prices stagnated in June, with the fall in oil prices (fuel prices were down 1% after having already fallen by 0.4% in May) offset by food prices, which rebounded by 0.7% after a 1.6% decline the previous month.

Excluding oil, prices of imported products rose by 0.2% in June, compared with a 0.3% fall the previous month.

Over the 12 months to the end of June, import prices rose by 1.6%, their biggest gain since December 2022 (+3.2%).

This new data confirms the risk of a slowdown in growth in the second half of the year, validating the scenario of two monetary easings by the Fed between now and the end of the year.

In Europe, the 'ZEW' barometer of economic sentiment for Germany came as a nasty surprise, falling in July for the first time in a year to 41.8, 5.7 points below its June value.

The fact that German exports fell by more than expected in May, political uncertainty in France and the lack of clarity regarding the ECB's future monetary policy all contributed to this development", explains Achim Wambach, ZEW President.

On the other hand, the assessment of the economic situation in Germany has improved slightly, with the expectations indicator rising by 4.9 points this month to -68.9.

On the bond side, the trend remains very positive, with -3.5 basis points on Bunds at 2.435% and -2.5 basis points on our OATs at 3.087%.
T-Bonds are easing on exactly the same basis, with -3.5pts on the T-Bond 2034, to 4.194% (equalling the lows of almost 4 months).
The easing of rates is propelling the ounce of gold towards $2,463 (+2.2%), surpassing the records set at the end of March and recording its best ever close.

The dollar firmed up slightly against the duro, which fell by -0.1% to $1.088/E. It remains trapped in its 'range'. It remains trapped in its range between 1.06 and 1.09, two days ahead of the European Central Bank's (ECB) monetary policy announcements.
The oil market consolidates after five consecutive weeks of gains, despite the increasingly serious prospect of a victory for Donald Trump, whose policies are favorable to the sector.

Brent crude drops 1% to $84 a barrel.

On the results front, the big US banking groups will remain in the spotlight on Tuesday, with quarterly results from Bank of America and Morgan Stanley.

Scor falls -274 to 19.5E after issuing a 'warning' on Q3 profits.
Atos remains very nervous, with an initial rise of +15% to 1.53E, followed by a fall to 1.1E (-13%), with no particular news.

Finally, in French company news, TotalEnergies reports that it has signed a binding agreement with SSE to create a joint venture to launch a major new player in electric recharging in the UK and Ireland, called 'Source', subject to the necessary regulatory approvals.

TotalEnergies also reports that its European refining margin indicator fell sequentially to $44.9 per tonne in Q2 2024, compared with $71.7 in the first three months of the year.

Vinci announced that its subsidiary Cobra IS had been selected by SMS Group GmbH to carry out work on part of steelmaker Thyssenkrupp Steel Europe's industrial complex in Duisburg, Germany, a contract worth 74 million euros.

Finally, Eiffage announced the strengthening of its presence in the Dutch energy market through the acquisition of two companies, EKB (a specialist in the design, construction and maintenance of industrial automation systems) and Rensen (a specialist in building management systems).

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