The Paris stock market continues to climb, gaining nearly 0.3% around the 7,500-point mark, which it reached today for the first time in its history.

Just like yesterday, the Paris index is benefiting from the performance of the luxury goods sector, with Kering and Hermès each gaining more than 1.2%, making them the CAC's two biggest gainers to date.

The prospect of an imminent pause in the monetary tightening cycle, both in the US and Europe, is fuelling investors' risk appetite and driving them towards the equity markets

The markets are now awaiting the start of the corporate earnings season, and any good news that might sustain the upward trajectory underway in recent weeks.

The first real test will come today with the publication of US banking giant JPMorgan Chase, which will unveil its results at midday, as will its counterparts Wells Fargo and Citi.

According to data from FactSet, the financial companies that make up the S&P 500 should see their earnings climb by 9.1% in the first quarter, the best sector performance of the entire index.

The session also promises to be very lively on the economic front, with figures on retail sales, import prices, industrial production and consumer confidence in the USA.

Meanwhile, this morning investors were able to take note of the trend in consumer prices in France. Over one year, they rose by 5.7% in March 2023, marking a slowdown after +6.3% in February, according to Insee, which revised upwards its provisional estimate for March by 0.1 points.

This fall in the inflation rate was due to a slowdown in energy prices (+4.9%). Prices for manufactured goods (+4.8%) and services (+2.9%) rose at a similar pace to February. Food (+15.9%) and tobacco (+7.8%) prices are accelerating.

Investors' current attraction to equity markets is limiting demand for Treasury bonds, as illustrated by the rise in German Bund and French OAT yields.

Across the Atlantic, the yield on 10-year Treasuries is easing to 3.43%.

The dollar continues to suffer from the moderation of inflation in the United States, which removes the prospect of further interest rate hikes, allowing the euro to remain firmly above the 1.10 threshold.

In French company news, Fleury Michon reports net income of 2.4 million euros for 2022, compared with 4 million the previous year, and operating income before non-recurring items of 15 million euros, or 1.9% of sales, an almost stable margin (-0.1 points).

Hermès International reports sales of 3.38 billion euros for the first quarter of 2023, up 22% (+23% at constant exchange rates), with 'dynamic activity in all geographic zones and all business lines'.

Kaufman & Broad reports net income attributable to equity holders of the parent (RNPG) of 31.6 million euros for the first quarter of 2023, compared with 11.8 million euros for the same period in 2022, as well as an improvement of 0.9 points in the operating income recurring rate to 8.4%.

Genfit reported a net loss of 23.7 million euros and an operating loss of 27.3 million euros for 2022, compared with profits of 67.3 and 31.8 million euros respectively for the previous year.

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