The Paris Bourse hasn't moved one iota since 10:30 this morning (the CAC gained around 0.2%, around 7300 points) despite the publication of a rather disappointing figure in the United States (consumer spending slowed sharply and remains only marginally positive), which didn't arouse any more emotion on Wall Street.
US indices are slightly in the green, with +0.2% for the S&P500 and +0.6% for the Dow Jones, but the Nasdaq is down -0.6%, so no trend is emerging after the publication of US retail sales for June.
According to the Commerce Department, retail sales rose by just 0.2% on a sequential basis in June, following a 0.5% increase the previous month (revised from an initial estimate of 0.3%).

Excluding the automotive sector (vehicles and equipment), US retail sales also rose by 0.2% last month compared with May, where the market consensus was for an increase of +0.5%.

US industrial production fell by 0.5% in June for the second month running, including a 0.3% contraction in manufacturing output and a 2.6% drop in utilities production, according to the Federal Reserve.

Total industrial production over 12 months fell by -0.4%. The capacity utilization rate fell by -0.55%, from 79.4% in May to 78.9% in June, i.e. 0.8 percentage points below its long-term average (1972-2022).
The Commerce Department announced on Tuesday that business inventories rose by 0.2% after an already modest 0.1% increase (revised from +0.2% in first reading) the previous month, in line with economists' estimates.

Business sales also rose by 0.2% in May, which means that at the current rate, it will take companies 1.40 months to sell off their inventories, compared with 1.33 months in May 2022.

The Dollar remains unchanged against the Euro at 1.1230 and the Dollar Index is no more inspired at +0.05% to 99.90.

With this week's earnings season set to kick off in earnest, markets could be relatively hesitant until they get a general idea of the second-quarter trend.

Although they are not the only ones to publish their results today, the major US banks will once again take center stage with the announcement of their quarterly accounts in a rather buoyant context.

According to FactSet, earnings in the US financial sector are expected to rise by 7.8%, the strongest increase among the S&P 500 sector indices.

Today, Bank of America, Charles Schwab and Morgan Stanley will unveil their accounts before the opening of Wall Street.

In Europe, Swiss biopharmaceutical giant Novartis this morning announced strong sales and margin growth for the second quarter, raised its forecasts and launched a $15 billion share buyback.

Against a backdrop of recurring concerns about global growth, investors are also hoping that the day's retail sales in the USA will reflect relative dynamism in the US economy.

In a note released yesterday, Jan Hatzius, Goldman Sachs' star economist, indicates that he has revised downwards the estimated probability of a US recession over the next 12 months from 25% to 20%.

On the other hand, indicators reflecting the healthy state of the US economy could dampen enthusiasm for equities, lest they prompt the Federal Reserve to continue its rate hikes.

In French company news, Ipsos announces the acquisition - without specifying the financial terms - of Big Village Australia's Insights business, which covers public sector market research, employee satisfaction surveys and customer experience measurement.

Sanofi and AstraZeneca announce that the US FDA has approved their Beyfortus for the prevention of lower respiratory tract infections due to respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), in newborns and infants.

Finally, Casino confirms that on July 15 it received a revised offer from EP Global Commerce as, Fimalac and Attestor to strengthen its equity capital, and that 3F Holding has decided not to file a revised offer.

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