The Paris Bourse ended the session up 0.3% at 7,209 points, driven by STMicro (+5.3%), Saint-Gobain (+2.6%) and Worldline (+2.5%), but penalized by Alstom's heavy downturn (-15%).

On the statistics front, there was a packed agenda on Wednesday: US retail sales fell by 0.1% in October compared with the previous month (+0.9%).

The positive surprise came from the Empire State index calculated by the local Fed, which climbed +14pts to a positive 9.1 in November.

New orders continued to fall slightly, while deliveries recovered. Labor market indicators point to a slight drop in employment and average working week.

But beware: the 'outlook' dropped sharply, as companies no longer expect conditions to improve over the next six months.

There were plenty of 'stats' in Europe too: CVS industrial production fell by -1.1% in the Eurozone and by -0.9% in the EU, according to estimates from Eurostat, the European Union's statistical office.

In September 2023 compared with September 2022, industrial production fell by 6.9% in the Eurozone and by 6.1% in the EU.

Eurozone GDP growth of 0.6% is expected in 2023, compared with +0.8% previously estimated.

Also in France, consumer prices rose by 4% over 12 months in October 2023, following an annual rate of 4.9% in September, according to Insee, which thus confirms its provisional estimates unveiled at the end of last month.

In addition, according to Insee, in the third quarter of 2023, the ILO unemployment rate rose by 0.2 points to 7.4% of the working population in France (excluding Mayotte).

Taking all categories into account, the overall rate of underemployment remains very high compared with the European average, at 16.9%.

Finally, British inflation fell in October to its lowest level since 2021, bringing it closer to the Bank of England's target and providing consumers with some breathing space.

Consumer price inflation (CPI) fell back to 4.6% last month, slightly better than the consensus forecast (+4.7%), after having risen to 6.7% in September.

Bond markets are adjusting in the wake of a spectacular easing in yields: T-Bonds (-15Pts on Tuesday) are back up +8Pts to 4.522%.

Our OATs are up +3pts to 3.1900% and Bunds +2.5pts to 2.6250%, while Italian BTPs remain stable at 4.415%.

On the FOREX side, the dollar, which was literally smashed the day before with -1.7%, is clawing back +0.2% against the euro, which is crumbling towards $1.0870/euro.
Finally, oil retreated -0.9% to $81.6 in London after the publication of a +3.6Mn increase in US crude oil inventories (to 439.4Mn barrels in the week to November 6).

Distillate inventories - including heating oil - fell by 1.4Mn barrels, while gasoline inventories dropped by 1.5Mn barrels, again compared with the previous week, the agency continues.

Finally, the EIA states that refineries operated at 86.1% of their operational capacity during the same week, with average production of 9.4 million barrels/day.

In French company news, Alstom is down nearly 15% to 12E after announcing this morning that it was working on a global operational, commercial and cost-efficiency plan, including a reduction of around 1,500 FTE (full-time equivalent), or nearly 10% of commercial and administrative functions.

In a strategic presentation dedicated to Ampere, Renault outlines its objectives for this electric vehicle and software company, which it plans to float on the stock market in the first half of 2024, while retaining a strong majority shareholding.

Airbus announces that Ethiopian Airlines Group has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to add 11 Airbus A350-900s to its fleet. This agreement brings Ethiopian Airlines' total order book and commitment for the A350 to 33, including four A350-1000s.

ArcelorMittal announced on Wednesday that it would be entering the additive manufacturing market, offering metal powders that it will market to players in the aerospace, defense, automotive, medical equipment and energy sectors.

Finally, JCDecaux announces the signature of a 10-year advertising contract with the Rungis International Market (MIN), which includes a complete overhaul of its billboard advertising offering.


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