Paris (AFP)

The Paris Stock Exchange closed again on Wednesday (-1.04%), still penalized by the luxury sector which is suffering from a slowdown in consumption in China.

The flagship CAC 40 index lost 69.35 points to 6,583.62 points, the day after a drop of 0.36%.

"We are entering a phase of decelerating global growth, the peak of growth has been passed and we will have to manage this slowdown in the economic recovery," explains Chaguir Mandjee, manager at Tailor AM.

Especially in China, where statistics have shown a slowdown in activity for several weeks.

Retail sales in August saw their weakest gain in a year, rising 2.5% while analysts forecast a 7% pace.

And industrial production was posted in August up 5.3% over one year, but this rate is also lower than the previous month (6.4%).

The first data is "due to mobility restrictions", put in place to counteract the increase in contamination by Covid-19, and the second "is explained by shortages of raw materials", estimates the expert.

Other activity indicators, coming from the United States, in the New York region, growth in manufacturing activity accelerated considerably in September, and more than expected.

American industrial production, on the other hand, grew less quickly in August than in July, penalized in particular by Hurricane Ida, according to indicators from the American Central Bank (Fed).

"China is very advanced in its post-Covid economic recovery cycle, because activity restarted in the second half of 2020, before the recovery of the American and European economies, so for us it is very interesting to watch what is happening now, ”adds Mandjee.

Luxury still lagging behind

The slowdown in Chinese consumption has led to the fall in luxury goods, which are dependent on this market, once again weighing down the entire Parisian coast this week.

LVMH fell 3.96% to 621.20 euros, Kering 4.09% to 631.40 euros and Hermès 1.73% to 1,247.50 euros.

Oil well oriented

Oil values ​​rose, benefiting from the rise in crude oil prices.

TotalEnergies took 2.23% to 38.69 euros, TechnipFMC 5.24% to 6.07 euros and CGG 3.89% to 0.68 euros.

Lagardère raided

The Paris headquarters of the company Lagardère (-2.65% to 19.49 euros) was raided on Tuesday as part of a judicial investigation opened in April after a dispute between the group and its shareholder the Amber Capital fund and relating in particular to on suspicion of vote buying.

© 2021 AFP