The Paris stock market soared +2.2% to 6,770, making for a thunderous start to 2023, with 2 out of 3 sessions already posting gains of 2% or more, for a total of +4.4% in 72H (including a re-test of the December 1st and 13th highs, with the day's high at 6.780).
The Euro-Stoxx50 is not to be outdone, with +2.4% to 3,975, buoyed by Italian ENI's +6.2%.
The CAC40 is boosted by +7% for Alstom, +5% for St Gobain and l'Oréal, and +4.1% for Schneider and BNP-Paribas.
Luxury goods are not forgotten, with LVMH (+4%), Kering (+3.9%) and Hermès (+3.2%).
Positive sentiment is fueled by a sudden drop in oil prices of -3.2% on Brent crude (-8% in 48 hours) from $87 on Tuesday morning to $79.6 this Wednesday at 3:30 p.m. (and WTI dropping -3.3% to $74.4 on the NYMEX) as Chinese industry continues to slow, despite the renunciation of the '0 Covid'.

Wall Street is up timidly, after a mediocre 1st session of the year the previous day: for the time being, US equities are up from 0.10% to 0.5%, but will post a near-zero performance in 2023, compared with +4.5% for the Euro-Stoxx50.
The Nasdaq recovers +0.5% (to 10,450) in the wake of Apple (+2%), Micron (+5%) and Nvidia, but Amazon and Qualcomm lose -2%.
The publication of an ISM manufacturing index down from 49 to 48.4 failed to motivate buyers, as US indices struggled to take off: the ISM posted its lowest level since the spring of 2020 (confinements).
The number of jobs available, on the other hand, remained very high, at 10.44 million at the end of December.

This morning, investors were able to take note of several statistics in Europe.
The composite PMI index for overall activity in France edged up from 48.7 in November to 49.1, but remained below the 50 mark, signalling a second monthly contraction in private-sector activity.

S&P Global, which calculates the index, reports that activity declined in both the services and manufacturing sectors, although the pace of contraction was again more marked among manufacturers.

The contraction of activity in the Eurozone slowed in December, as inflationary pressures eased, according to S&P Global's latest PMI survey.

Its final composite PMI index, which measures overall activity in the region's private sector, rose to 49.3 last month, after falling to 47.8 in November.

Against this backdrop, the U.S. statistics expected at the start of the year will be decisive in determining where the U.S. economy stands at the start of 2023.

A moderate slowdown in economic activity and employment should still satisfy the markets, as they will see this as the beginning of a less restrictive monetary policy, without anticipating a recession", explain IG's teams.

"A sharp slowdown, on the other hand, could allow a very short-term rebound for the same reasons, but probably lead to a sharp fall later on, against the backdrop of a probable future recession", says the broker.

On the yield front, bond yields confirmed their easing trend, with French ten-year OATs erasing -10pts to 2.805%, German Bunds down -9pts to 2.280%, and Italian BTPs down -17pts from 4.48% to 4.31%.
In the U.S., the yield on 10-year Treasuries fell by -9pts, from 3.792% to 3.702%.

On the currency markets, the dollar fell by -0.65% to 1.0620 against the euro, after starting the year on a particularly vigorous recovery (+1.1% on Tuesday).

In company news, Saint-Gobain, via its subsidiary Chryso, announced that it had finalized the acquisition of Matchem and signed an exclusive agreement to acquire IDP Chemicals, two companies positioned in the buoyant building and infrastructure segments in Brazil and Egypt.

At the end of December, Neoen announced that it had finalized financing for the first 209 MW of its Goyder South Stage 1 wind farm (total capacity 412 MW) near Burra, South Australia.

Finally, CGG and TGS announce the second phase of the 3D multi-client study of Foz do Amazonas, in Brazil's equatorial margin, which covers 11,425 square kilometers and will provide additional high-quality data for exploration in this area.

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