The star CAC 40 index fell 61.57 points to 6,495.83 points.

It ends the week with a drop of 0.89%, and brings its losses since January 1 to 9.19%.

The Parisian rating, neutral over the first four sessions of the week, spent the whole day in the red, a trend amplified in the last hour of trading.

It therefore does not equal the seven weeks of consecutive gains experienced in October and November 2021. Over the past six weeks, marked in particular by corporate results, the CAC 40 had gained 10.50%.

"These are profit-taking, but they remain on the margins", nuances Mikaël Jacoby, head of continental Europe brokerage for Oddo.

Since mid-June, "there was a violent recovery" of the indices, "more than what could be expected when trading volumes were low," he explains.

Among the reasons for the rise, market participants held out hope that slowing US inflation in July and a series of indicators showing slowing growth prompted the US central bank to pivot to a policy more flexible currency.

But several statements by officials of the institution have questioned this possibility this week.

The drop in oil prices may have also helped, but they began to rebound at the end of the week.

In another headwind, bond yields continued to rise due to investors' expectations of stricter central bank measures, including sharp rate hikes.

The interest rate for the French 10-year loan thus reached 1.80%, against 1.46% on Monday at the close, its highest level for almost a month.

Front defenses

The stocks least linked to economic activity, and which are favored by investors in times of risk aversion, were the only ones to resist.

Air Liquide took 0.06% to 136.50 euros, Pernod Ricard 0.33% to 195.40 euros and Orange 0.50% to 10.38 euros.

Conversely, the most cyclical shares fell sharply like banks (BNP Paribas -2.79% to 47.66 euros), or automobiles (Renault -3.08% to 29.31 euros).

Large order from SNCF to Alstom

The SNCF has placed an order with the railway manufacturer Alstom for 15 additional new generation TGVs, in addition to the 100 copies already purchased four years ago, to respond to the growth in traffic and to launch trains abroad.

In green at the opening, the title of Alstom, penalized by the economic situation of the session, lost 1.79% to 21.90 euros.

© 2022 AFP