CAC40: frozen, ECB announcements a non-event

(CercleFinance.com) - The ECB's announcement and the press conference that followed were the perfect prototype of a "non-event", with the CAC40 falling back to its equilibrium point around 7425 points in the early trading hours, and then freezing at + or -0.
1%.

The CAC40 index didn't even flinch at the announcement of a -0.25Pts cut, to 3.00% (Repo), 3.15% and 3.40% respectively, which will take effect on December 18.
No reaction either to the lowering of EU GDP growth forecasts for 2025 (+0.7%)... as recovery is slower than expected in 2024.
The ECB estimates that growth in Q3 reached +0.4% thanks to tourism (Olympic Games effect) before slowing in early autumn (decline in job vacancies): we'll have to wait until 2026 to see growth reaccelerate to +1.4% and then 1.3% in 2027.

Inflation is forecast at +2.3% in 2025 and +1.9% in 2026 and 2027 (prices remaining high, in line with the rise in wages observed in the zone.
ve in terms of monetary easing by cutting its key rates by 25 basis points, a scenario expected by 85% of investors.

The divergence in economic trajectory between the USA and Europe has probably never been so strong, and it is perhaps high time for the ECB to move away from its American counterpart", explains one manager.

In addition to the ECB announcements, investors were also awaiting US producer price and jobless claims figures in the early afternoon.
The Labor Department reports that US producer prices rose by 0.4% in November compared with the previous month, and by 0.1% excluding food, energy and commercial services.
Expressed as an annual variation, the rise in US producer prices accelerated last month compared with October by 0.4 points to 3% unadjusted, but held steady at 3.5% excluding food, energy and commercial services.

The Labor Department announced that 242.000 new jobless claims in the US in the week to December 2, up 17,000 on the previous week.

The four-week moving average - more representative of the underlying trend - came in at 224,250, up 5,750 on the previous week.

Finally, the number of people receiving regular benefits rose by 15,000 to 1,886,000 in the week to November 25, the most recent period available for this statistic.

On the bond front, our OATs eased by -1.7Pt and Bunds by -1.2Pt, with the spread contracting to just below 76Pts.

In French company news, Bic last night announced the acquisition of Tangle Teezer, a brand of high-quality detangling hairbrushes, for 200 ME. The Group has also begun a transition process to appoint a new CEO by September 30, 2025, as Gonzalve Bich's term of office comes to an end.

Ahead of its Investor Day, Sopra Steria is announcing its financial targets for 2028, including an improvement in operating margin to between 10% and 11%, as well as an increase in return on capital employed before tax to around 20%.

Finally, the Seb group is announcing the validation by the Science Based Targets (SBTi) initiative of its new targets accelerating the reduction of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, covering scopes 1, 2 and 3, by 2030 and 2050.

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