The star CAC 40 index lost 43.96 points to 6,000.24 points, putting the week's balance on the wrong side of the scale.

"The larger-than-expected jump in inflation has made the drumbeat of recession, to which the markets are always more attentive," observed Michael Hewson, analyst at AJ Bell.

The US consumer price index (CPI) soared in June to 9.1% year on year, above the 8.8% expected.

Over one month, the rise in prices amounted to 1.3% in June, against 1.0% in May.

These figures presage a further rise in inflation and the continuation of a strong policy of raising rates by the American Federal Reserve (Fed), a brutal monetary tightening which risks further harming growth.

In Europe, the first estimates of inflation in June were confirmed in France (5.8%) and Germany (7.6%).

The markets are all the more worried that the European Central Bank (ECB) still seems reluctant to raise its rates to combat rising prices.

The euro, already weighed down by the gloomy outlook for the European economy, with the possibility of a stoppage of Russian gas supplies, temporarily plunged below the symbolic threshold of one dollar after the announcement of the American index.

This threshold had not been crossed since the introduction of the single currency in December 2002.

Around 5:00 p.m. GMT, it still rose 0.45% to 1.0083 dollars.

For Gilles Guibout, European equities manager at Axa IM, a clarification of the market outlook in Europe can only be achieved through better "visibility", both on potential decision-making by the ECB to control inflation and a easing of tensions with Russia linked to the war in Ukraine.

But for the time being, the Russian gas giant Gazprom has waved the threat of a cut in gas supplies to Europe by claiming that it cannot guarantee the proper functioning of the Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline, the only channel linking Russia and Germany, for which it operates maintenance for ten days.

Banks and autos down the index

In a context where fears of recession are gaining the upper hand, banking and automobile stocks have been particularly hard hit.

On the bank side, BNP Paribas lost 2.48% to 42.73 euros, Société Générale 2.22% to 19.90 euros and Crédit Agricole 1.87% to 8.40 euros.

On the automotive side, Stellantis ended at -2.20% at 12.01 euros and Renault at -2.13% at 23.23 euros.

© 2022 AFP