United States, Oil and Results, this Wednesday session’s winning cocktail for the Cac 40
After the previous day’s fears over House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan, the Paris Stock Exchange rallied, driven by a three-element cocktail, the rise of Wall Street, the rebound on the back of oil and corporate earnings generally well received. At the close of trading, the Cac 40 rose by 0.97% to 6,472.06 points, with a trading volume of 3.1 billion euros, which was somewhat more sustainable than the previous days.
On Wall Street, the Dow Jones was up 1% and the Nasdaq Composite was up nearly 2%. It’s a time of relief after the end of Nancy Pelosi’s trip to Taiwan (she’s continuing her Asian “tour” in South Korea before heading to Japan on Saturday), even if, as you can imagine, she’s met the wrath of Beijing triggered. China responded by announcing military drills including missile launches through Aug. 7 and urging airlines to avoid areas around Taiwan. Measures comparable to those that might have been enacted after Republican and Democratic American senators visited the island earlier this year. She also announced the suspension of exports to Taiwan of natural sand, a key component in semiconductor manufacturing, while an embargo was imposed on imports of many foods.
Surprise increase in services ISM
Across the Atlantic, the key stat of the day, that of ISM services for the month of July, was well received. The index posted a surprise acceleration to 56.7, up from 55.3 in June and compared to the consensus-expected 53.5. The order intake component improves particularly strongly. Numbers that go in the direction of James Bullard’s statements this Wednesday on CNBC. The St. Louis Fed Chair says the US is not in a recession, giving the Fed scope to raise rates further to bring inflation back towards the 2% target.
Second auspicious element, oil. Delegates from OPEC+ (which includes cartel members and other oil-producing nations, including Russia) have agreed to increase production by 100,000 barrels per day from September. This increase marks a significant slowdown from the 648,000 barrels per day increase decided for the months of July and August. The reaction was immediate, with North Sea Brent barrels bouncing back above $101 before losing that lead to the European close ($98.72). Total EnergiesCac 40 heavyweight, took the opportunity to gain up to 3% in the afternoon.
Axa passes the semi-annual test with flying colours
In the end, the results published for the day were well received. axa up sharply by more than 5% after first-half operating earnings per share rose 11% as the impact of the war in Ukraine was relatively weak, as expected. This exceeds the insurer’s stated goal of an average annual increase of 3 to 7% of this profit level over three years (2021-2023).
Society Generale up 3.1%. The bank reported a lower-than-expected loss in the second quarter as the momentum of its activity in both retail banking and markets offset the impact of the sale of its Russian subsidiary Rosbank.
Only Veolia environment lost some ground to close -2.8%.
Without the flagship index, bike Soared nearly 5% after raising its annual revenue growth target to a range of 10% to 12% at constant exchange rates, while previously targeting an increase from 7% to 9% at the top.
