The Paris stock market ended August on a positive note (as did the E-Stoxx50 with +0.4%): the CAC advanced by +0.3%, around 7385 points (in volumes still as stodgy as ever, with less than 700MnsE in 6 hours of trading), as investors this morning took note of several statistics concerning France.

In the second quarter of 2023, France's gross domestic product (GDP) in volume terms was confirmed at +0.5% compared with the previous quarter, according to detailed data from Insee.

Furthermore, consumer prices in France rose by 4.8% year-on-year in August 2023, marking a significant acceleration after +4.3% the previous month (due to higher fuel prices), according to Insee's provisional estimate at the end of the month.

Finally, in July 2023, French household consumption expenditure on goods rose by 0.3% month-on-month in volume terms, after +0.9% in June, according to Insee's seasonally and working-day adjusted data.

Another busy month in the US, with consumer spending up 0.8% in July on the previous month, according to the Commerce Department, a slightly better-than-expected rise on income growth of just 0.2%.

In addition, the PCE price inflation index stood at 3.3% year-on-year for July, accelerating from 3% the previous month. Excluding food and energy, the core PCE rose from 4.1% to 4.2% month-on-month.

Earnings rose by +0.2% vs. +0.3% previously.
Finally, weekly jobless claims fell by -4,000 to 228,000.
There was little reaction on the bond markets: the '30 yr' stood at 4.22%, the '10 yr' unchanged at 4.11%, and the '2 yr' edged up to 4.885%.
In Europe, ten-year German Bund yields are down -3.5pts at 2.501%, while the OAT is down -3.9pts at 3.02%.
On the currency front, the dollar is erasing its losses of the last 48 hours at 1.0870E.
Eramet is up +10% at 70E on the announcement of the resumption of manganese mining operations.
Pernod Ricard (-5%) reports a 13% increase in net income, group share, to 2.26 billion euros for its 2022-23 financial year, a rise linked to an 11% increase in operating income before non-recurring items (OI) to 3.35 billion.

Eiffage loses nearly 2% following the presentation of a 10.7% increase in net income, group share, to 392 million euros for its first half of 2023, but with an operating margin down 0.1 points to 9.7%.

Finally, Neoen announces that it now has 3.3 GW of assets in operation or under construction in Australia, 'confirming its position as a leader in renewable energies' in the country where it has already invested, to date, over four billion Australian dollars.

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