The Paris Bourse ended the session at its lowest level of the day, down 1.52% to 6,816 points, penalized in particular by Publicis (-3.5%), Eurofins Scientific (-3.1%) and STMicro (-3.1%).
Over the past week, the CAC40 has shed 2.6%, taking its year-to-date total to 5.3%.

Markets are particularly sensitive to the geopolitical context in the Middle East, not to mention 10-year bond yields, which remain high despite a slight easing, with T-Bonds at 4.90%, a German bund at 2.88% and French OATs at 3.5%.

Beyond this algebraic counter-performance, chartists will note that the major support of 6,880 (from March 15) did not hold in this "3 Witches" session, where it could - in other circumstances - have been defended with more determination and a good chance of success.

The markets are now under stress as investors wonder whether the US will raise rates again before the end of the year.

Speaking to the Economic Club of New York yesterday, Fed Chairman Jerome Powell noted that economic activity remained solid and that the path towards 2% inflation was still not firmly established, which could justify a further monetary tightening.

On the geopolitical front, the morning's announcement that the US Navy had intercepted projectiles launched from Yemen towards Israel could provoke a rise in risk aversion.

All these tensions continue to favor safe-haven assets such as gold, which climbed a further 2.3% to reach 1994 dollars an ounce.
Brent crude oil gained 0.2%, topping $93 a barrel.

In news from French companies, Klépierre reports net rental income of €736.7 million, up 8.6% over 9 months on a like-for-like basis, thanks in particular to strong positive indexation and higher ancillary revenues (variable rents, parking revenues and Specialty Leasing activities).

Alstom announces the inauguration of RAPIDX, India's first semi-high-speed regional rail service.

Finally, Verallia reported sales of €3,075m for the first 9 months of 2023, up 22.1% year-on-year on a reported basis. On a like-for-like basis, sales were up +22.5% (and +18.6% excluding Argentina).

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