The Paris Stock Exchange records its best month since November 2020
The control room of Euronext, the company that manages the Paris Stock Exchange (AFP / Eric PIERMONT)
The Paris Stock Exchange rose 1.72% on Friday and 3.73% for the week, after a fortnight full of better-than-expected company results that took the Paris rating to its highest level since early June.
After two consecutive closures of the CAC 40 in the green, the Pariser Platz star index rose by 109.29 points to 6,448.50 points. Since the beginning of the month, it is up 8.87%, its best monthly performance since November 2020.
“Markets are benefiting from better than expected results,” commented Eymane Cherfa, analyst at Myria AM.
“Large exporters such as luxury, energy and industrial companies have excelled today,” he stated, citing TotalEnergies (+3.47% to EUR 49.76) or Hermès (+7.49% to EUR 1,334) as examples.
Hermès’ net profit rose by 39.7% year-on-year in the first half, as did that of L’Oréal (+3.78% to 168.10 euros), which grew by 36.4% over the same period.
According to Eymane Cherfa, investors also “got a good surprise with French Q2 GDP coming in above expectations”.
After a fall of 0.2% in the first quarter, France returned to growth from April to June and recorded a more dynamic recovery than expected in its GDP, which rose by 0.5% in this second quarter, according to data published by INSEE on Friday .
On the value side, IT giant Capgemini rose 8.58% to €185.35 after raising its growth target for 2022.
Renault rose 5.10% to 28.75 euros after releasing half-year results from the automaker, which has divested from its Russian operations but has used a general rise in car prices to improve its profitability and shows optimism for the year .
Media giant Vivendi, which recently got its hands on the Lagardère group and French publishing leader Hachette, on Thursday agreed to sell its subsidiary Editis outright, number two in the industry, effectively forgoing a marriage.
Investors severely sanctioned this announcement: the stock fell by 7.22% to EUR 9.26.
Groupe ADP rose 3.86% to 134.60 euros. Most notably, the manager of Paris Roissy and Orly airports returned to the green in the first half of 2022 with a net profit of 160 million euros.
Air France-KLM also reported a net profit in the second quarter, for the first time since the summer of 2019, before the health crisis related to the Covid-19 epidemic hit the aviation sector. Its title increased by 4.39% to EUR 1.34.
Elior shares rose another 14.72% to €3.16, taking its weekly gains up 48%. Investors are backing the stock after reports of a rebound in activity for the contract catering group amid the severe impact of the health crisis over the past few months have rattled its course. Year-to-date, the stock is still down 50%.
Euronext CAC40
