The CAC 40 index lost 64.26 points to 6,528.32 points, erasing two sessions of small gains which had brought it to 6,592.58 points the day before.

After hovering around equilibrium, "the market headed down when the retail sales figures were released" in the United States, observes Nicolas Budin, head of equity management at Myria AM.

Spending by US individuals, flat at $682.8 billion in July, jolted investors.

A few hours before the publication of the "minutes" of the Fed, the markets saw that "excluding autos and energy, spending rose more strongly than expected, by 0.7% instead of 0.4%", this which goes in the direction of “generalized inflation”, which overflows beyond the rise in energy prices, estimates Mr. Budin.

For the head of management, US retail sales have fueled "the hypothesis of a rate hike" by the Fed stronger than what investors had hoped for since the last meeting of the institution during which its key rates were raised by 75 basis points.

Fed Chairman Jerome Powell had "raised the idea that it might be tempted to pivot" and focus on returning to growth rather than fighting higher prices, recalls CMC analyst Michael Hewson Markets.

The theory according to which the central bank could initiate a more accommodating turn in its monetary policy has long prevailed among investors despite the counter-current speeches of several of its members.

In the United Kingdom, the rise in prices in July reached 10.1% over one year, beyond economists' expectations, which fueled market fears.

Another worrying indicator in Europe, economic growth in the euro zone in the second quarter was revised down slightly, to 0.6% compared to the previous quarter, while employment lost momentum over the same period (+0, 3%), according to Eurostat figures published on Wednesday.

In the table of values, the Sanofi laboratory posted a sharp decline of 5.68% to 81.67 euros per share after ending the global clinical development program for amcenestrant, designed to fight breast cancer, in due to the results of phase III trials, one of the last stages of research, deemed inconclusive.

© 2022 AFP